Cannot Escape The Past
by StarfireRocks
Summary: The Titans anniversary is coming up and the team is throwing a party. But the Citadel demand they hand over Starfire or Earth will be enslaved. When they refuse, Starfire gets taken. The Titans and Titans East go after them, but when they find Starfire, her whole past is unraveled and Koriand'r is revealed to both teams of Titans.
1. Prologue

**So I've been sitting on this idea for some time now, but wasn't sure if I wanted to write it. I'm going to post the chapters as soon as I finish writing them, so sorry if the updates take a while. Just know that I WILL FINISH THIS STORY BEFORE I START ANOTHER ONE! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.**

You cannot escape your past. No matter where you go, no matter who meet, how far you run or how well you hide, it will catch up with you. Perhaps it shall stay in the shadows until you least expect it, when you are at your happiest, causing you to come tumbling down falling back into the mistakes and horrors of the past. Or maybe it will reer its dreaded face soon after you attempt to leave it, resulting in you having it plague your mind until the day you die. Either way, it shall find you. There is no ignoring it, no moving on and leaving the past for the past, that is impossible. I should know. My name is Koriand'r, and I have faced my past. My four friends did not know of my past up until three weeks ago. I am sorry to say, they never really knew me at all. My friends had eventually revealed their individual nightmares, their lives before our friendship. Over the course of four days, I met Garfield, Victor, Rachael, and Richard. It was sad to think they had each suffered so, but I had always known the sadness they were hiding. Strangely, none of them thought to ask of my past. I suppose I should have been grateful, for at least I would not have to relive it. But instead I felt slightly annoyed, did they think that I had not faced pain and suffering as well? Just because I wore a smile and kind heart out in the open did not mean I had no negative thoughts run through my mind. My friends learned this almost a month ago, for the past I had been trying to escape for the past five years caught up with me, and my perfect fantasy world came crashing down around us leaving me standing alone staring into the distrustful eyes of my friends. To understand this, I must start at the beginning to where the first hints of what was to come appeared. My home is on Earth, in Jump City. My job is to protect my home. My friends and I are the Teen Titans. I am known by those on Earth as Starfire of Tamaran, and this is my tale of how my past came back to haunt me. . .

**I know this chapter was kinda short, but this was just to shed a little insight to the story. I hope my next few chapters will be longer, but I can't promise. Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter posted tonight, but if not then DEFINATELY tomorrow... sometime.**


	2. The Message

**I came through with my promise! I managed to post this in time! This chapter is mostly just filler, but I kinda like it and I hope you do to! I'm not really sure how many people actually read this part, but anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I'm positive I don't own Teen Titans, no matter how much I want to.**

It was a warm late summer day. The residents of Jump City were bustling around, rushing to places while throwing dirty looks at the brightly shining sun. Only a few citizens threw quick glances at the small island on which a tall 'T' towered above them all. For the city it was a sign of hope, of safety. Because of that Tower, or rather its inhabitants, the city never had to worry about crime or dangerous criminals.

If they had cared to look closer, they may have seen the far away figure on the Tower roof. This figure was a teenage girl, around seventeen years of age. She was sprawled out on the roof, staring up into the blue sky. Her emerald coloured eyes seemed to be looking past the sky, into space itself. The girl's long red hair was fanned around her, shielding her from most of the sun's glare. Starfire sat up as she heard the roof door open. "Hey Star," said Robin quietly as he walked over. "I thought you might be up here." He squinted up at the sun, which hung almost directly above them. "Oh yes, I needed some of the fresh air." Starfire told Robin, smiling up at him. The masked Titan shook his head. "I don't know how you can stand being outside in this heat." he told her, running a hand through his hair. Starfire scooted over and waved for him to sit. Robin looked at the sun quickley, then sat next to her. She sighed before drawing up her knees to her chest. "I draw most of my energy from the sun. So even though its heat makes you and the others uncomfortable, it gives me more energy and therefore, more power." she explained. "Oh," The Titan leader replied. Starfire laughed lightly and remained silent. Robin threaded his hand into hers, holding it gently. Starfire peeked down, but didn't say anything. For a few moments they both watched the different birds fly across the cloudless sky. Robin looked over to Starfire, watching her run her fingers through her hair. "Your hair is curly," he said in surprise. The purple-clad Titan looked at the clump of hair in her hand, inspecting it quietly. "Yes, I suppose it is." she said idly, throwing the section of hair back over her shoulder. "Yo, Robin! Starfire!" Cyborg's voice came through the roof door. "Emergency!" Joined Beast Boy's voice. Robin hurriedly stood up and ran to the door. Starfire cast one more longing look at the sky, then followed him.

The two met up with Cyborg and Beast Boy in the hall. "What is the emergency?" Starfire asked. "We'll show you in the OPS centre, quick!" Beast Boy replied, taking her hand and dragging the Tamaranian down the hall. Cyborg and Robin stayed close behind them, Robin attempting to get information from the half robot. "You'll find out when we get to OPS, Robin." Cyborg told him, refusing to give out anything more. When the four entered the OPS centre they saw Raven sitting on the strangely shaped sofa, reading the Book of Azar. "Raven! What's the emergency Cyborg and Beast Boy are talking about?" Robin demanded, striding up to her. Raven looked over the edge of her book, but didn't answer. "Party invites!" shouted Beast Boy. The half demon girl raised an eyebrow in response. "What party are you speaking of, Beast Boy?" inquired Starfire, sounding distracted. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Robin all turned to look at her in amazement. Beast Boy and Cyborg had their mouths hanging open. They all seemed unable to answer. "Uh, Starfire? I think they're talking about the party celebrating the team..." Raven said, slowly putting down her book. All four of them appeared stunned that the alien had forgotten. Wasn't Starfire the one who counted down the day every year? "Hmm? Oh, yes. Of course." she said vaguely. The others shared a long and worried look. "Are you okay?" Robin asked. "Yes, I am fine." Starfire answered, finally snapping out of it. "I am sorry, I was merely thinking." They nodded, uncomfortable silence weaving through the Tower. "Anyway, we need to send out invitations!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "To whom should we send them to?" Starfire asked him. Beast Boy thought about it, scrunching up his face in concentration. "How about Titans East?" suggested Cyborg hopefully. "Yeah!" said the green boy, giving his best friend a high five. "I'll give them a call and invite them." Cyborg announced, walking over to the huge computer/TV screen. Beast Boy quickley ran over to join him. Robin started to walk towards the door, but stopped when Starfire asked, "Where are you going Robin?" He answered her, but did not turn around. "Crime Lab. We might be having a party in a few days, but that doesn't mean crime's going to take a break." Raven quietly watched Starfire as she raised her head, looking at the ceiling. "Come on Starfire." she said, standing up and walking over to the red-head. The cloaked Titan lightly grabbed Starfire's arm, walking her over to the door. "Where are we going?" the bright-eyed girl said, surprised. Raven didn't answer, but did peek over at her, noticing how distracted her friend looked. Neither of them spoke until they had left the Tower island and were in the city. "Raven..." Starfire whispered as she saw where they were headed. She looked over at the purple-haired girl, her eyes shining brighter than they had been lately. Raven smiled slightly, nodding towards the doors. "We have to get party supplies anyway." Starfire beamed at her, and together they entered Jump City Mall.

The next day, Starfire was up before anyone else in the Tower. It was only four thirty, but she couldn't get back to sleep. As she went through her regular morning routine, she appeared to be clouded with worry and deep thought. When Starfire was done, she looked around feeling lost. She had never had nothing to do before. There was always a friend to talk to, or Silkie to feed. But her friends were asleep and Silkie already had enough food. Starfire decided to watch the sunrise on the roof. The morning air was still and the city was asleep. It was peaceful, but Starfire wanted noise and activity. The quiet allowed thoughts to penetrate her mind and without loud sounds to drown them out, they just swirled around. Her head seemed to clear a little as she watched the sun go higher up into the sky.

At six in the morning, she went back inside the Tower to begin breakfast for her friends. Before she was finished, Raven came into the room. Her hood was down and she still looked half-asleep. "Good morning Raven," Starfire greeted her cheerfully. "You seem back to normal." Raven stated flatly. "Oh, yes! Thank you for our trip to the mall of shopping yesterday!" Starfire replied. Raven only nodded before she made for the cupboard which held her herbal tea. "No need, Raven." Starfire told her, placing a dark blue mug in front of her. "Thank you," Raven said, sounding surprised. "Would you like some breakfast also?" Starfire asked timidly. Raven studied her friend before nodding. The alien beamed before starting to make them breakfast. Five minutes later, they were both sitting at the table, Raven with her herbal tea and a small plate of toast, and Starfire with a glass of juice. "Aren't you going to eat something?" Raven said, glancing at the glass of juice. "Huh? Oh... I must have forgotten..." Starfire said quietly, staring off into space. Raven frowned and handed her friend a piece of toast. "Thank you, Raven." They both ate their small breakfast in silence, and afterwards Raven helped clean up.

Just as they were finishing, they heard the sounds of Beast Boy and Cyborg argueing. "Dude! We are _so _havin tofu for breakfast!" Beast Boy entered first, looking highly annoyed. "No way! We're having the full meat-y breakfast experience!" Cyborg yelled back, coming in behind the vegetarian Titan. Starfire quickley walked over to the kitchen counter, on which sat two plates. The boys stopped in their tracks as they saw Starfire carry over the plates to them. "Here," she said handing the plates to them. Beast Boy's plate consisted of tofu and vegetarian substitutes, while Cyborg's was full to brimming point with his favrouite meat foods. "Thanks, Star!" they both said, digging in. "Ugh, you eat like pigs." Raven said in distaste. Both of them made faces at her. "Come on Starfire, I can't watch these two eat." Raven said, standing up from the table. Starfire followed her to the OPS centre. They soon became engaged in a conversation about Azarath, Raven's home. Just as Raven began to speak about the Monks of Azarath, Robin entered the room. "Morning team." he greeted them. Beast Boy and Cyborg grunted at him, while Raven only glanced in his direction. Starfire stood up and walked over to him. "Good morning Robin, how was your slumber?" she asked, smiling at him. "Fine, Star. What about you?" He replied. Starfire's smile faltered, and Robin noticed. He looked around the room, seeing the rare sight of Beast Boy and Cyborg eating in peace. He also noticed the newly cleaned evidence of Raven and Starfire's breakfast. "Did you make everyone breakfast?" he asked suspicousley. Starfire nodded. "How long have you been awake?" Starfire glanced out the window and answered quietly, "A little over two hours..." Robin glanced over at the clock on the wall, eyes widening slightly as he counted back two hours. "You've been up since _five_?" he said loudly. "Four-thirty." Starfire countered, looking down at the ground. Robin stared at her in quiet astonishment. Before anything could be said, a flashing message appeared on the TV screen.

Robin and Cyborg both walked up to the screen, and Cyborg accessed the message. The screen went black, and a strange beeping noise admitted from the computer. Robin frowned as he listened. "What is it?" he asked Cyborg. The car-obsessed Titan typed into the computer keypad before answering. "It looks like a space transmission, but I don't recognize it." Starfire went to the kitchen and began to clear up Beast Boy and Cyborg's breakfast. Just as she was carrying the clean plates to the cupboards, she heard the transmission clearly. Starfire stopped in her tracks and listened until the end of the transmission. "Can you play it again?" she asked faintly. Cyborg looked over to her curiously, and he saw how pale she was, and how dim her eyes had become. "Are you alright, Star?" he asked her with concern. Sounding completely unlike herself, Starfire said sharply, "Play it again, please." Shocked, Cyborg replayed the space transmission. After about two minutes, the other members of the team were thoroughly confused. Starfire on the other hand, continued to grow gradually more terrified. She dropped the plates she was still holding and slowly sunk to the floor. At the end of the message, the other four turned to look at her in inquiry. "Starfire?" said Beast Boy, taking a few steps towards the girl sitting on the floor. "Are you okay?" finished Raven. Starfire visibly swallowed, and ran her hands through her strangely curly hair. "I-I am fine." she said shakily. Cyborg walked over to her and offered her a hand. Starfire stared at his hand for a few seconds, but took it. Cyborg led her over to the sofa and sat down next to her. "You recognized that transmission." Robin said accusingly. Starfire looked at him nervousley and leaned into Cyborg. "Yes," she answered. "Well? What is it?" Robin demanded. Raven glared at him, and Beast Boy stepped closer to Starfire. "It is a message from... from..." Starfire began, shaking slightly as she came to the end.

"It is a message from the Citadel."

**There, the first REAL chapter. If you like it, REVIEW! It'll encourage me to post chapters sooner. I sooner a word? Whatever, just REVIEW!**


	3. Furious Fire

**OMG I am SOOOO SOOOO sorry! I meant to post this AGES ago but I just kinda forgot and then... well anyway, here it is! Okay, I'm just warning you that Starfire's past won't come into the story for a few more chapters, but that's only because I want to make reading this worthwhile. Again, SO sorry about the late update. Forgive me?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Robin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Who?" he asked. Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg all gave him dirty looks. Starfire stared at him with wide eyes. "What?" Robin said as he saw the angry glares his team was sending him. Beast Boy opened his mouth, obviousley about to say something angry and possibly rude, but Starfire cut him off. "You. . . do not remember?" She said faintly. Robin looked between them all, before resting his gaze on her. "Should I?" he asked. Starfire sat back, looking stunned. Beast Boy's eyes were blazing with anger, and Raven appeared to be having trouble controlling her powers. Once Robin saw this, he turned to Cyborg for help. But Cyborg was clenching his hands into fists, and was furiousley staring at him. "Robin, when we first met I told you of the Citadel." Starfire informed, looking exhausted. Robin seemed to try and think back. "Um. . ." He mumbled. "Come on, dude!" Beast Boy burst out. A lightbulb near Raven exploded, and Robin took a few steps away from her. He looked to Starfire for help. Though the others were clearly angry with him, she only seemed disappointed. When Starfire saw him sending her pleading looks, she sighed. "Do you remember fighting the Gordanians?" She asked him wearily. Robin nodded, looking relieved. "They were on their way to deliver me to the Citadel." Starfire informed him, before sinking deeper into the sofa. Robin appeared to finally remember, but grew annoyed with them. "That was almost five years ago! How was I supposed to remember?" He demanded angrily. "We did." said Cyborg calmly. "We go over the details of the day we all met every year, on the anniversary of the formation of the team." Raven told Robin. The Titans leader suddenly grew very quiet. "But, why would they be trying to contact us now?" Beast Boy asked Starfire. Starfire folded her hands on her lap, and stared at them while she answered. "It will be because they have finally discovered my location." Cyborg squinted his one human eye. "But Star, the Gordanians knew you came to Earth. That's why we fought them! So how could the Citadel only now know where you are?" He reasoned. Starfire peeked at him through her hair, which had fallen in her face. "I suppose the Gordanians only told them I had escaped, not where I had gone. If the Citadel had known that they had not only failed to deliver me to them, but were also defeated by mere Earthlings. . ." She shrugged. "'Mere Earthlings'?!" Beast Boy burst out, beginning to glare at her. Starfire turned to look at him, and his glare faded away. "So, was that transmission a message for us?" Robin asked, no longer standing in front of the team, but rather off to the side. Starfire avoided looking at him, instead winding a piece of hair around her finger. "No. I believe it was only their method of learning our technology. The next time shall be a message you all understand." She said finally. Beast Boy glanced over at Robin, smiling to himself. Raven stepped on his foot. "Ouch!" Cyborg and Starfire snapped around to look at them. "Come on y'all, we're going for some pizza!" declared Cyborg. He stood up and helped Starfire up. She beamed brightly at him and joined Beast Boy, who was cheering. The three of them made it to the door before Starfire noticed. "Raven? Are you not coming?" She turned around and asked. "Sure." Raven responded, causing the alien girl's smile to grow. Raven shook her head, but joined them. "You coming, Robin?" Cyborg asked without turning to look at him. "Uh, no. Maybe next time." Robin said, watching Starfire leave the room. Cyborg shrugged, before running after them yelling, "Beast Boy! You are not driving the T-Car!"

At the pizza place, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and even Raven attempted to cheer up Starfire. The two boys argued with each other playfully, and Raven spoke quietly with her. "I'm going to meditate when we get back to the Tower. Do you want to join me?" She asked her. Starfire nodded slightly, watching the boys begin to start a real fight. Raven narrowed her eyes, worry flooding her face. "Starfire, you've been acting. . . strange. Stranger than usual, I mean." She said, crossing her arms across her chest. Starfire ran her fingers through her hair, seemingly not bothered about Raven calling her strange. "I am sorry. It is just the Citadel's message. . ." Starfire shuddered as she mentioned the cruel alien race. Raven studied her face for a few moments, noting how Starfire alternated between gazing off into nothingness, and flicking her sight to the side nervousley. "It's more than that. I can sense it." Raven saw her begin to protest, but silenced her with, "Don't you dare lie to me." It seemed that Starfire could not meet Raven's eyes. Finally she sighed in defeat. "I shall lie to you no longer." The alien complied, before glancing at the boys on the other side of the table who were determindly ignoring each other. "Perhaps it would be best to tell you when we have, uh, more privacy?" She whispered to Raven. The chakra-clad Titan agreed. Starfire stood up and addressed Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Friends? I believe it is time to return. . . home. . . " The other three blinked at her as she trailed off. "Uh, Star? You okay?" Beast Boy wondered nervousley. Starfire didn't answer, instead she slowly retrieved her Titan communicator. She stared at it as if it held the secrets of the universe. "Umm. . . oookay. . . " muttered Beast Boy. "Shush," Raven hissed at him. They sat in silence for a full minute, before "Hey, Starfire? You sure you're-" But Cyborg didn't get to finish. The Titan alert signaled, and not surprisedly, Starfire answered her communicator first. "What is the trouble?" She demanded. On the other end, Robin's static-y voice replied. "Nothing big. Just a . . . at . . . bank. Dr. Light most likely. Meet there. . . soon. . . Raven. . . alone. . ." The connection broke and they were disconnected. "Dr. Light? Dude, he is so easy to beat!" Beast Boy complained. "Makes you wonder why the dude doesn't just give up." Cyborg added, shaking his head. "It changes nothing. We must go." Starfire said flatly. Raven nodded and started to levitate off the ground. Starfire began to follow, but Cyborg stopped them. "Why don't we all just take the T-Car? Since Robin isn't here we can all fit in there comfortably." The girls stared at him. Very rarely did the Titans, other than Cyborg and occasionally Raven, ride the T-Car to missions. "Just an idea. . ." mumbled Cyborg, obviousley under the impression they were mocking him. Starfire lightly landed beside him. She laid a hand on his arm and gave him a small smile. "It is a good idea, Cyborg." She reassured him. Cyborg smiled back at her. "Let's get going already." Raven said darkly. The four piled into the T-Car and pinpointed Robin's location.

At the East Jump Bank, they saw Robin's R-Cycle parked off to the side. Raven was out first, scanning the area for the lame villian. Starfire and Beast Boy sooned followed her, watching for danger. Cyborg reluctantly detached himself from the car, murmuring quiet words to it. "There he is!" Beast Boy yelled out, pointing to the otherside of the street. Before the others could wander whether he meant Robin or Dr. Light, they both came into view. Dr. Light already looked half beaten. His suit was scratched and parts of the arms were torn off. Robin on the other hand, looked almost bored. The villian was running towards the other four, apparently not seeing them. Robin pursued him, but didn't appear to be paying much attention. Beast Boy morphed into a cat, and stepped in Dr. Light's way. The sad man screamed as he tumbled to the ground. "Dude! You scream like a girl!" Beast Boy laughed, in his human form. "Just give up, man. You aren't going to win." Cyborg suggested. "Don't be so sure." Dr. Light said before smiling. Before Beast Boy could open his mouth, Dr. Light extracted a new weapon. It was small and circular, swirling with bright colours. It sent a narrow beam of dangerous looking white light shooting towards the green boy. It sent Beast Boy flying backwards, sliding across the pavement before stopping. He did not get back up. The other four flew into action. Cyborg changed his arm into his sonic blaster and started shooting at Dr. Light. Raven chanted her magic words, causing inanimate objects to fly at him. Robin extended his bo-staff and ran forward to attack. Starfire, did nothing. Dr. Light aimed his weapon at Cyborg, firing with determination. The half-metal Titan crumpled to the ground. "Cyborg!" Starfire exclaimed, rushing over to her fallen friend. He groaned in response. Suddenly, Robin sailed past them. He had obviousley just been hit by Dr. Light's new weapon. Starfire gasped as she watched Robin fly into an unsuspecting Raven, and they both fell to the ground. Her eyes adruptly glowed green. She clenched her fists and slowly turned towards the usually pathetic villian. Once Dr. Light saw the look on her face, his smug smile slipped away. "I advise you to put the weapon down." Starfire said calmly and clearly. Dr. Light didn't move. "I said put it down!" Starfire raised her voice, at the same time chilling it. It was like ice. Dr. Light gulped. Without giving him a chance to put down the weapon, Starfire flung a bright green starbolt at him. It hit his hand and the circular object went flying to the pavement. Dr. Light paled and let out a nervous laugh. "Uh. . . you win?" he tried hopefully, slowly backing away. Starfire marched up to him, her eyes flaring with green fire and her fierce red hair flying around her. She leveled her glowing fist at him. His eyes widened and he started to scramble away from her obvious wrath, but Starfire fired several starbolts at him, leaving him unconscious. The others began to stir, and Raven was the first up. She looked from Dr. Light to Starfire, then pulled up her hood. Robin looked slightly disappointed after inspecting the villian. Beast Boy and Cyborg both gave Starfire a high five before they burst out laughing. Starfire sighed and rose a few feet into the air, appearing impatient. "May we please go home now?" She almost growled. And without for a response, she took off into the air.

**There you go. I know it probably wasn't worth the wait, but there was just something about writing this chapter that just. . . bored me I guess. I promise I will try to get the next chapter up at the very latest, the end of February, though hopefully before that. Review please, tell me what you think.**


	4. Incoming Visitors

**I updated before the end of this month! And I was crazy busy! I am very proud of myself. (Titans cheer) Thank you, thank you. Now on to the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer**:** I don't own Teen Titans, I only own a book full of fanfic ideas for them. **

Raven almost followed Starfire into the air, but Cyborg caught her look and shook his head. When they got back to the Tower, Raven decided to go to Starfire's room. After all, they had planned to meditate together. That hadn't been canceled because of Dr. Light. Had it? Either way, Raven was going to speak to her. She had to. Raven wasn't really the best friend type, she wasn't someone you would feel comfortable venting your feelings to, but if one of her friends really needed her to lend an ear she would, and she'd be understanding. The difficult thing though, was that Starfire didn't seem willing to talk about whatever was bothering her. And something was clearly bothering her. Starfire was such an open, happy person that it was easy to see when there was something wrong. Like a dark grey cloud blocking the sun. It could be the whole Citadel situation, but Raven sensed it was something more.

When Raven got to Starfire's door, she hesitated before knocking. Somehow, she didn't think Star would be in there. So instead, Raven swept up the roof. Her suspicions proved true as she saw Starfire sitting on the very edge of the roof. Quietly, Raven walked up beside her. "Starfire," she said, if only to state her presence. Starfire looked up at her and nodded in acknowledgment. "Do you mind if I join you?" Raven asked, then sat down before Starfire could answer. They sat in silence for awhile, Starfire idly tracing patterns in the air and Raven not knowing what to say. Finally, Raven couldn't stand it anymore. "Starfire, what's wrong with you?" The Tamaranian looked at her, expression blank. Realizing what her question came out sounding like, Raven hastily corrected her mistake. "I mean, what's bothering you?" Starfire sighed, and leaned back. "I have not seen the Citadel in almost eight years. The last time I did see them was when they attacked my planet and I was forced to become a peace treaty. I am. . . scared of what they shall do." She confessed. Raven stood up and gestured for Starfire to follow suit. "We won't let them hurt you, Starfire." The sorceress reassured her friend. "Thank you Raven. Do you wish to commence meditating now?" Starfire asked. "Sure." So the two girls made their way down to Raven's room.

Cyborg was with Beast Boy in the OPS room. Robin had left for his 'office'. Neither of them really cared where he was. They were still mad at him for forgetting about the day they met Starfire. Cyborg had just finished sending a party invite to the Titans East. "So. . . now what?" Beast Boy asked. Cyborg looked around, then shrugged. "Want to play video games?" He suggested half-heartedly. Beast Boy grabbed the controlers in answer.

It had been a week since the fight with Dr. Light and the Citadel had been almost forgotten by the Titans. At least, four of the Titans seemed to have forgotten. Starfire hid her worry well by avidly planning the Titans Anniversary Party. But the party was in two days and there was nothing left to plan. The Titans East had responded to the invite, confirming that they would be there, and the roof had been set up and was ready to go. So Starfire now had nothing to do that would keep her fear in check. She had begun to meditate with Raven more often, but Raven never questioned why. When she could no longer meditate, Starfire was either playing GameStation with Beast Boy, working on the T-Car with Cyborg, or training almost as much as Robin. The other members of the team had noticed, but said nothing. The day before the party, Starfire came down to the OPS room in search of something to do. But all the other Titans were in the OPS room. "Good morning," Starfire greeted them in her usual cheery manner. "Morning," they all answered, obviousley occupied with their own thoughts. Cyborg was typing something on the main computer, and the others were watching him. "What is going on?" Starfire asked once she noticed this. Robin turned to face her, and Starfire was startled to see the repressed panic on his face. "Robin?" She said worriedly. "The Citadel have contacted us again. They didn't say anything, but Cyborg thinks they'll try it again." Robin explained carefully. Starfire paled, and remained silent. Robin stood and walked over to her, laying a hand on her arm. He led her over to the sofa and sat down next to her. Beast Boy morphed into a small kitten and settled onto her lap. "When did they contact the Tower?" Starfire asked faintly. "A little over a half hour ago." Raven told her. Suddenly, Cyborg jumped back from the computer and nearly landed on Starfire and Beast Boy. "Dude! What was-" Beast Boy began in his human form. But Starfire stopped him by grabbing his arm tightly. All the Titans were quiet as the computer went blank and the beeping came again. The beeping stopped adruptly, and the screen switched back on. It showed what appeared to be a spaceship in the backround. There was a massive alien in the middle of the screen. The image kept changing, shifting to another, so the Titans couldn't make out much. The only clear details was that the alien was dark grey with bright blue eyes. Starfire whimpered and drastically paled. "Humans," The alien said the word as if it were the foulest possible thing it could muster. Robin stepped forward, in clear view of the terrible thing. "Who are you?" He demanded. "You have something that belongs to me." The alien said in a booming voice instead of answering. At his words, Starfire shakily stood. "We have nothing of yours." Raven said defiantley. They were all standing now, the other four flanking around Starfire, almost blocking her from view of the Citadelian. Almost. "_That _belongs to me." The alien snarled, looking directly at Starfire. Cyborg shifted so that he stood right in front of her. "_Starfire _doesn't belong to anybody." He said, leaving no room for arguement. The alien seemed to narrow his eyes in anger. "The Troq is mine, and you will return her to me." He hissed. "And if we don't?" Robin asked determindly. "Then your planet will be enslaved." And with that, the screen once again went blank. Starfire stood as still as a statue. There was a tense silence, the others didn't seem to know what to say. Raven, never good with personal situations, glided out of the room muttering something about meditating. Cyborg decided to use the most powerful computer, which was in his room, to do some research on the Citadel. Even though he and Starfire were supposedly best friends, Robin was obviousley extremely uncomfortable. Finally he gave up and left, leaving a worried Beast Boy with a shell shocked Starfire. The morphling nervousley looked over at Starfire, and saw a tear make its way down her face. "Star?" He said, surprised. The Tamaranian let out a small sob, and slowly sank down onto the sofa. Beast Boy carefully sat next to her, slightly scared. Though it may not seem like it, Beast Boy always thought Starfire was the strongest of the team. If things got too emotional, Raven would shut down. If things got too close to home, Cyborg would close off. If Slade got involved, Robin would crack. If things got too hard, Beast Boy would accept defeat. But Starfire always remained strong. No matter what, she was there to comfort her friends and finish the battle if need be. She'd even sacrifice herself for others, like when Blackfire arranged her marriage with that glop of goo. So it shocked the green Titan to see the girl he so admired shaking with sobs, and tears rushing down her cheeks. Beast Boy decided that for once, he'd be the one to comfort the comforter. He moved closer and placed a hand on Starfire's heaving shoulder. She fell into his arms, burrowing her head into his neck. And so that is how, for one night, Beast Boy ended up consoling Starfire until she fell asleep, still in his hug.

The next morning Raven, Robin, and Cyborg entered the OPS room to find the other two members of the team sleeping on the sofa. Starfire lay with her knees drawn up to her stomach, her head resting upon one arm. Beast Boy was in kitten form, curled close to the alien. He was tunneled under Starfire's free hand, which was lying over his furry back. Cyborg cleared his throat loudly. The green kitten's head shot up and he mewled in surprise at great volume. He fell silent quickley as he noticed the not-so-still-asleep Starfire. Beast Boy jumped off the sofa, morphing back to a human in mid-air. Starfire opened her eyes sleepily, blinking away the residue of her dream. She stretched and sat up gracefully. "Morning." Raven said. Starfire jumped as if she had not noticed the others. She caught Beast Boy's gaze and they both blushed. Obviousley heated with embarassement at last nights events, Starfire hopped up from the sofa. "Do you wish for some breakfast?" She asked, avoiding their eyes. Cyborg and Robin agreed to some breakfast, while Raven passed. "I'll make tofu waffles," Beast Boy offered quickley, joining Starfire in the kitchen. She looked up at him briefly, before returning to her cooking. "Hey Star? What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked, not even attempting to make a tofu breakfast. "I am sorry, Beast Boy. About last night. I did not mean to do the 'breaking down'." Beast Boy stared at her. "_That's _why you're acting weird? Don't worry about it Starfire." She smiled at him gratefully. "Now, let's make some delicious tofu!"

It was now late in the day, and the team was expecting the Titans East in a few hours. It took awhile to get from Steel City to Jump City, and they had decided it would be better if the Titans East stay at the Tower overnight for the party. It left Steel City without its heroes for a night, but Robin had called Kid Flash and Jinx to guard the city.

The team was lazing around the OPS room, Raven meditating, Cyborg kicking Beast Boy's butt at GameStation, and Robin talking with Starfire. Starfire had been about to ask him a question when the visitor alert went off. "Who could that be?" Cyborg thought out loud. "Perhaps the Titans East are early," Starfire suggested. "I shall go." she offered. So, the girl flew down the hall towards the elvator and stepped out to the lobby. "Who is there?" Starfire asked, opening the door slightly. "Hey, Starfire." greeted Bumble Bee. "Bumble Bee! Speedy, Aqualad! How nice it is to see you!" The Tamaranian exclaimed, opening the door fully and dragging them inside. After the 'hello's' had been done, and the hugs given, Starfire stood back. "We were not expecting you for hours!" She told them. "Yeah, well. We ran into a little problem. We should probably wait until the rest of the Titans can hear this." Speedy explained. Starfire nodded, then noticed the missing members of the Titans East. "Where are Mas y Menos?" She asked. "They should be here somewhere," Aqualad said, confused. Suddenly, a burst of Spanish words came from the other side of the room. The four looked over and saw the spanish twins. "I still have no idea what they're saying." Speedy muttered. Starfire giggled at the team's communication situation. The twins were by her side in a flash. Mas stood on Menos' shoulders and spoke to the alien, obviousley trying to impress her. Starfire looked at them in utter confusion until Aqualad saved her. "Why don't we go see the others?" He suggested. Starfire smiled at him gratefully. "They are in the OPS room." She said, leading the Titans East to the elevator.

Once at the OPS room, the two Titan Teams were scattered across the sofa. "So why are you guys here early?" Robin asked. "Well, we were called out to stop a robbery, when the scanners that Sparky here installed went off. There was a weird space signal heading towards your Tower, so we decided to come over in case you didn't already know." Bumble Bee told them. "It was. . . heading for our home?" Starfire inquired quietly. "Si," Mas y Menos confirmed. Robin glanced at her quickley before turning to his team. "Cyborg, can you find out how far away the signal is?" Cyborg nodded and went over to the main computer. "Raven, can you sense the energy of the signal? What its intentions are?" Raven's eyes flared white and she melted through the wall to her room. "Starfire?" He said gently. She jumped and turned wide emerald eyes at him. Cyborg looked over at the two, then at the Titans East before returning to the computer. Robin paused for a minute before continueing. "What can you tell us about the Citadel?"

**Done! Review if you like it, if not... then why have you read this far? Just in warning for future chapters, I'm making up Starfire's past the way I imagine it. It'll be consistent with Go!, though. **


	5. Secret Names

**Wow. It took ages for me to update! In my defense, I have several excuses. Real ones! First, it took me forever to finish this chapter! Then, when I did finish it, my internet was down. When my interent was back, I discovered I hadn't saved this chapter to my computer! Finally I rewrote this chapter and my internet was down again. Then my computer was acting weird and refused to let me post anything, and when I at last get onto FanFiction, I found that they had changed the layout! It took ages to get to this point, but here I am at last! I seriousley hope this chapter is worth it. **

**Disclaimer: Me no own Teen Titans. (In my dreams I do, though!)**

"The Citadel is a planet. Many beings who were exiled from their home planets are sent there, and after several millenium a new race was created, named after the planet itself. The Citadel as a race are a cruel. They wish for nothing more than complete power. For years they have been declaring warfare on neighbouring planets in the Vega Star System. Once war is declared, they quickley conquer the planet and enslave its people. There is no way to resist them. Some planets, including Tamaran, have made peace treaties with the Citadel, but they usually come to heavy prices for the planet to pay." Starfire whispered. The others looked at her strangely, noting how she wouldn't meet their eyes.

"Starfire, you said you were a peace treaty? What. . . does that mean exactly?" Raven asked. Starfire didn't raise her head, nor did she answer. Beast Boy scooted closer to her, and gently touched her shoulder. Slowly, her eyes met his and the two teams saw tears in her eyes. Starfire took a deep breath.

"Once the Citadel enslave a planet, the population is drastically descimated. They kill the warriors first, forcing the families to watch. Then they take the most. . . beautiful women. Lastly, they take the first royal heir. If the heir is male, with a female sibling, they shall take both. The heir, male or female, become slaves for them. If the heir is female, they are. . . used for certain other duties." Here, Starfire stopped and shuddered. Beast Boy gestured for her to go on, eyes tght. With another deep breath, Starfire continued. "I was sent to the Citadel when I was around eight earthly years. I was a slave with several other heirs from distant planets. More than half of the heirs do not live longer than their first year as a slave. The Citadel were not our masters. Not yet anyway. First, we had to survive our Gordanian masters and the Psions. Only the most enduring slaves are sent to the Citadel. After a year of servitude to the Gordanians the remaining slaves, which maybe make up thirty percent of the original amount of slaves, are handed to the Psions. The Psions are related to the Citadel, for they are another branch created much the same way, but instead of power, they crave knowledge. They experiment on the heirs, to see how much pain they can endure before dying. After two years of such torture, we are sent back to the Gordanians. What is left of us anyway. The Psion experiments killed twenty percent of us. We lived with the Gordanians for a last year before finally being deemed strong enough for the Citadel. At this point, many slaves kill themselves. When the time came to become a full Citadel slave, there was only two of us remaining." The Titans, along with the Titans East, stared at Starfire in shock. Neither teams failed to notice how, slowly, Starfire had changed her explanation into a story from personal experience.

"Wait, you were the peace treaty?" Beast Boy said carefully. Starfire nodded, silently fighting back tears. "But. . . isn't Blackfire older than you?" He finished tentatively. There was a long pause while Starfire found her voice again.

"Yes, my sister is older than me. But she was never an heir to the throne." The Tamaranian answered, voice hoarse. This time, Cyborg scrunched up his face in confusion, obviousley distracted away from the computer search.

"But when we went to Tamaran, Blackfire was Grand Ruler. And you said you were second-in-line to the throne." He reminded her. Robin looked over at Cyborg and cleared his throat quietly. Cyborg jumped and returned to the computer. Bumble Bee rolled her eyes but quickley returned her gaze back to the pale girl curled up at the end of the sofa as Starfire spoke.

"Yes, Blackfire was Grand Ruler. Anyone of the Royal Family, no matter how distant or unworthy may challenge the current Ruler for the throne. Blackfire was ill as a young child, therefore preventing her from feeling the joys of flight. On my world, such a thing makes you considered an outcast. The only reason Blackfire was not exiled to the far planet of Okaara, was because of the intervention of Galfore. He convinced the Grand Rulers to keep her on Tamaran, to train her in secret so she may fight with our people." Starfire explained matter-of-factly. Robin and Beast Boy shared a confused look. They had both seen Blackfire fly when she came to Earth, and when they went to Tamaran for Starfire's betrothal. And Beast Boy told Starfire just that.

She shook her head, a look of bewilderment clouding her features. "When we were - when _I _was taken by the Citadel, there were . . . complications. I was the peace treaty, but Blackfire was a, how do you say, consolation prize? When we were given to the Psions, their experiments must have reacted strangely with my sister's anatomy, enabling her power of flight and giving the both of us our starbolts."

With that, Starfire lifted her hand and it shone with green light. The demonstration was quite unnecessary, considering that both the teams had seen Starfire in a fight before. But now the Titans East and the three boys of Starfire's team regarded the mix of radiation and solar power that encased her hand, in a different manner. Was it really a blessing, Starfire having this power? Yes, she could help civilians and defeat the criminals, but at what cost?

Suddenly, Aqualad thought of something none of them had considered before. "Does it hurt? Using the starbolts?" The others in the room swiveled around to stare at him. Slowly, a look of horror crept across each of their faces. They all turned back to Starfire in questioning.

Starfire carefully evaluated his question and, keeping her eyes trained on her starbolt covered hand, answered thoughtfully. "When I discovered what I could do, and first used them, yes. I can hardly remember now because, truthfully I do not wish to remember. But I know that it felt like my hands were on fire. It felt like my blood was boiling and my skin was peeling. However, I soon learned to work through the pain and I hardly feel anything now."

Appearing desperate to turn the subject away from Starfire's suffering with her powers, Robin distracted them all quite effectively. "If Blackfire wasn't an heir to the throne, then why were you second-in-line for the throne?"

He seemed to have struck a nerve. Starfire seemed to slump in her seat, her eyes slowly closing. Though obviousley wishing not to explain, Starfire seemed resigned to do so. "I had an elder brother. His name was Ryand'r, and we were very close. He was the first in line, and nobody could resent him for it, not even Blackfire. He was kind, and modest, and brave. . . But he did not have the strength to perservere through the Psion experiments. One morning, my sister and I discovered that he had disappeared. Blackfire told me the experiments must have killed him, but I chose to hold onto the thin thread of hope that he managed to escape, and is out in space somewhere, safe. I have not given up that hope." The Tower was silent.

"Starfire, I-" Robin started, leaning forwards and raising a hand as if to place it comfortingly on her shoulder. But he stopped, glanced over at the others, and dropped his hand. A flicker of disappointment danced on Starfire's face before it became carefully blank. She jumped up, much to the surprise of the others. "If that is all of your questions?" She snapped, clearly done with answering them. Mas opened his mouth and raised a finger, but Starfire cut him off. "Good. I shall see you all in the daylight hours." And she spun around and stormed to the door, almost slamming into Raven who stood on the otherside. Raven watched in confusion as Starfire stalked past without so much as an apology, quite clearly steaming mad. Raven stared at the others in questioning, but they shook their heads. "What did I miss?" She asked.

* * *

Starfire sat in her room, alone, hours later. She was curled on her bed, cheeks wet from her tears. Starfire knew she shouldn't of snapped at her friends, and she regretted it, had regretted it as soon as she got to her room. The only thing that had stopped her from going back to the OPS room and apologising was fear. What if they asked her more questions? She couldn't handle that, not today. Normally, she wouldn't have reacted so strongly to this. She would usually have more control and hold back her frustration, her anger, her tears. But she couldn't now. If it had been any other week. . . but she just didn't have that kind of luck. She had been terrified all week, even before the Citadel's message. Of course, who wouldn't be when it was the anniversary of gaining starbolts through excruciating pain and losing your brother all rolled into one week? She'd apologise to her friends in the morning. After all, she didn't want to ruin the party. Adruptly, Starfire found herself exhausted. Her eyes had begun to slide shut when someone knocked on her door. She contemplated ignoring it, but figured it would be rude. So Starfire forced herself into a standing position and trudged to the door.

"Hello?" She said croakily. "Hey Star." came a quiet reply. Starfire's eyes popped open and she blushed guiltily. "Oh, good evening Cyborg. Is something the wrong?" She asked. Cyborg shuffled his feet and sighed. "Just . . . thought you might need someone to talk to." He answered. Starfire hesitated for a second before admitting him into her room.

They sat on her bed in a comfortable silence for awhile, Starfire unsure of what to say. "We don't have to talk about anything that's been happening lately." It was a simple statement, but Starfire was immediatley grateful. Cyborg's words seemed to open a floodgate in Starfire. They talked, but said nothing of importance. They chatted, but it was mindless. Finally, Starfire breathed a laugh. "Thank you, Victor." She said, but sucked in a beath soon after. She had not meant to call him that, it was just the way she distinguished between the two in her head. Cyborg was the eldest Titan, the one who wanted to take down the criminals single-handed, who was good with computers and gadgets. But Victor was the big brother. He was willing to play a game of basketball or chess, the one who loved videogames and meat. He was the one you could talk to, come to with any problem. Of course, this did not mean Cyborg had two different personalities, it just meant he was prepared for any trouble, criminal or friend wise.

After a tense silence, Cyborg laughed and patted her hand. "Sometimes you just need to talk about stupid things to make you feel better. And don't worry about calling me Victor, just as long as you only use it when we're alone. The others may know my name, but the privilege of using it is reserved." He winked at her and started to the door. "Indeed. I have not told anyone, not even Robin, but my true name is not Starfire." She told him. Cyborg half-turned around, but she fell silent. "Look, lil' lady, you don't have to tell me-" He said, turning back to the door. "Koriand'r." She called out quietly. Cyborg froze. "Huh?" He said. "My true name. Koriand'r." He turned to look at Starfire. "Thank you. For wanting to tell me. It's a nice name, but. . . it is kinda long. How about I just call you Kori instead?" Suddenly, Cyborg found himself engulfed in a hug from the Tamaranian. "Star?" He said in confusion. "My brother used to call me Kori." Starfire mumbled, still hugging him. Cyborg started to stammer apologies, but Starfire stopped him. "It is quite all right. I rather like the idea of having you call me Kori. Truthfully, you remind me of my brother. Thank you Victor." She said again. Touched, he wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug.

They broke apart after a few minutes, both of them quite embarassed at the display of emotion. "I need to go. I just thought you could use some mindless chatter. Goodnight, Kori." Cyborg departed, leaving Starfire standing in the dark, smiling. She just knew that everytime he called her Kori from now on, it would be like a secret hug from a brother. After all, a name was a priviliged thing.

**Ugh. I feel terrible about this chapter. Oh well, to be honest the part of the story I actually PLANNED doesnt start til' next chapter. I don't really know how these chapters so far came about. . . mystery of life I guess. I apologise in advance for any delays the next chapter may have. I think my computers messed up, so. . . could take a while.**


	6. Apologies

**Sorry. I feel terrible for making you wait! Plus I lied. I didn't plan anything til next chapter. This chapter would've been longer to include that part, but this ending seems perfect. Hope you'll agree!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own.**

The next morning, Starfire awoke to find her eyes red and puffy from crying. Her talk with Cyborg- no, Victor- had helped immensly, but she had still fallen asleep to thoughts of the Citadel, the Psions, and Ryand'r. . . all in all, not the best things to dream about. But it was too late to change that now. So Starfire sighed and dragged herself out of bed, trudging through her morning routine, still half asleep. The only time she hesitated was when it came time go to the OPS room for breakfast. With a quick glance at her Mumbo clock, Starfire's fears were confirmed. It was past eight o'clock. Both teams of Titans were most definately awake by now. Were they still mad about her angry outburst from the night before? Of course they were, how could they not be! Did she really want to go down there and face the music? Not especially. Was Starfire seriousley contemplating her chances of jumping out her window and flying into the city to avoid the confrontation? Definately. In fact, she even took a few steps toward the window. Before she could find out whether she would have done it or not, Starfire was stopped by a knock on her door. She cringed inwardly. Had her friends gotten impatient of waiting for her in the OPS room? Had they come to yell at her? Or was it Cyborg, come to reassure her? Dejectedly, Starfire forced herself to open the door. She was taken aback by the sight of her visitor.

"Hey." stated Bumble Bee nervousley. Starfire could tell the other girl was uncomfortable. She couldn't blame her, honestly, Starfire was uncomfortable as well. After all, the two had only shared a few rare conversations together. They were friends, but no where near as close as Starfire and the members of her own team. Because of this, Starfire was intensely curious as to the reason Bumble Bee had come to see her.

"Hello, Bumble Bee. May I ask the reason of your visit?" Starfire asked, desperately trying to hide the shock in her voice. She didn't seem to do a very good job. Bumble Bee sighed before glancing down both ends of the hallway, much to the confusion of Starfire. The other girl indicated the room behind Starfire, obviousley asking for admittance. Starfire hastily stepped aside, leaving the doorway clear. Bumble Bee shut the door as soon as she entered, almost clipping her wings in the process. "Bumble Bee, what-" Starfire began, but the Titans East leader did not seem inclined to listen. She grabbed the Tamaranian's arm and dragged her over to the bed, pushing her down into a sitting position. Standing before Starfire, with her arms crossed and her face determind, Starfire was suddenly reminded of a school teacher scolding a misbehaving student. Now, Starfire had never been in a human classroom before, and she had certainly never been told off by a teacher. But from the way Beast Boy had described it, Starfire half beleived Bumble Bee was about to give her what her friend had called a 'detention'. But of course, Bumble Bee did no such thing. Instead, she sighed yet again and shook her head at the Tamaranian.

"Look, I know you and I aren't close friends or anything, but all of the other Titans seem too scared to come and get you." Bumble Bee informed her.

Starfire started in shock. "They are. . . scared? Of me?" She asked, ashamed. Bumble Bee nodded sagely. Starfire gulped and covered her face with her hands. Bumble Bee sat next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Why?" Starfire asked, her voice somewhat muffled. Bumble Bee didn't answer, but Starfire knew why. Obviousley, the Titans had never thought of Starfire's past, and if they had, they never imagined it to be like she explained. Add that to the fact that Starfire had yelled at them, which she had never done before, and you end up with nine Titans realizing that Starfire could be a lot scarier then they thought. No wonder they were too scared to talk to her. "What about Robin?" Starfire emerged from her hands, staring at Bumble Bee inquiringly. "Is he afraid also?" Bumble Bee seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Okay, maybe I phrased that wrong. They're not exactley _scared_. More like. . . reluctant, I guess." Bumble Bee consented, struggling to find the right word. Starfire scrunched up her brow in confusion. Bumble Bee sighed and searched for a way to explain the situation to the Tamaranian without confusing both of them. "Well, see, last night. . . none of us were expecting that _you _of all people had. . . you know. . . " She trailed off, silently begging Starfire with her eyes not to make her continue. Thankfully, Starfire seemed to understand.

"They fear I am not the person they thought I was." She stated, not denying nor confirming it. Bumble Bee nodded. Starfire let out a gust of breath and rubbed a hand across her eyes. It wasn't even noon and she looked exhausted. "Then I suppose we must prove to them that I am still Starfire, regardless of their knowledge of my past." She sighed, standing up from the bed. She turned to Bumble Bee with a smile. "Truthfully, I find it odd. A week ago, they knew nothing about me and accepted me completely. Now, they know only a little of my life and are already shutting me out. Just because they knew nothing before doesn't mean I have changed, just their opinion of me. I wonder how they would react if they knew everything about me." And on that note, Starfire flew out of her room, leaving a shocked Bumble Bee in her wake.

When Starfire entered the OPS room, the other Titans fell silent. Starfire felt like yelling at them again. She restrained from doing so by reminding herself that shouting at them is what got her into this mess. Well, kind of. "Good morning, friends." She said, putting a lot of effort into trying to sound cheerful. There were a few timid, "Mornin's" in answer. Suppresing a frustrated sigh, Starfire barely noticed Bumble Bee slipping into the room. "I. . . apologise, for my behaviour last night. It was wrong of me to shout." She ground out. Robin shook his head at her.

"We're not upset about the shouting Starfire." He told her tersely. Starfire felt her eyes grow wide and she took a few tentative steps toward him. But Robin stepped back. Slightly hurt, Starfire stopped.

"Then, why are you upset?" She whispered, closing her eyes as if to block out his answer.

"You never told us anything about your life before the Titans. We all did, yet you kept it a secret." Robin told her accusingly.

Starfire's eyes flew open and they were all shocked, and slightly alarmed, to see that they were glowing a brilliant green. "_That is not my fault, Robin!_ None of you ever asked! You never even considered the idea that I had secrets like the rest of you! You never wondered if my past had been as bad, or even worse, then any of yours! If you would have asked nicely, perhaps I would have told you!" The rant left Starfire panting, eyes still burning as she glared at them all. All of them seemed paralyzed, no one took their eyes off of her, like they were afraid she would obliterate them if they said anything. The only one brave enough to venture towards her was Cyborg. As he drew closer to the furious alien, he started murmring words of reassurance. By the time he placed a hand on her shoulder, Starfire's eyes were their normal colour. Her eyes slid shut and she slumped against him, wanting nothing more than to restart the day.

"Just give them a little time. They just never considered this side of you. We're all used to the happy-go-lucky Starfire, not the seen-the-worst-of-the-world-and-lived Starfire. It's gonna take a little getting used to." Cyborg whispered in her ear. Instead of comforting her, like he obviousley meant to, his words caused Starfire groan.

At his questioning look, Starfire leaned forward and whispered, "If this is how bad it is now, I do not think I wish to tell them the rest of my past." Cyborg leant back from her, surprise evident on his face.

"The rest?" he said, clearly under the impression she couldn't have been through worse than what she had already told them. Before Starfire could answer, Speedy cleared his throat. Cyborg and Starfire jumped, having forgotten about the other people in the room. Cyborg let his hand slide from her shoulder and, with a discreet wink at Starfire, joined the others, who were still staring at the Tamaranian warily.

"Again, I apologise. This week has not been easy for me." She mumbled, tugging on her hair and offering no other explanations. Robin looked as if he was going to ask her why that week in paticular had been hard for her, but was stopped from doing so by Raven, who shot him a look of warning. So instead he snapped his mouth shut and remained silent. Clearly, this had not been what Starfire had been hoping for. Her face fell and her eyes began to look glassy.

"Alright, look. We can all agree that what happened yesterday was unexpected, right?" Cyborg shattered the silence, to the obvious relief of Starfire. There were reluctant nods from all around the room. "But Starfire is still are friend. . . isn't she?" He continued. Starfire's throat tightened when the others hesitated to agree. Cyborg glared at them. "Just because y'all always thought Starfire sprung from the ground completely innocent and free from pain doesn't mean she's changed at all. It just means you're idiots." This statement left the Titans utterly speechless.

"Dude. . . Did you just call us idiots?" Beast Boy sputtered. Cyborg eyed him suspicousley before seemingly coming to the conclusion that the green Titan was trying to help the others forget their wariness towards Starfire.

"You should be used to it by now." Raven droned, coming up beside Starfire, deciding to assist them. Starfire gave her a small smile, but the other girl shook her head, apparently not prepared to trust her happy act.

Bumble Bee took a deep breath and shot a look at her team. "Can we all just forgive and forget this, so we can have fun at the party later?" She asked, frustrated. Starfire nodded eagerly, Raven gave a slight inclination of her head, Cyborg and Beast Boy glanced at each other, then at Starfire, and agreed. Bumble Bee didn't need to see her team to know that they would agree. After all, Mas y Menos loved Starfire, while Aqualad and Speedy understood about keeping the past a secret.

That left only Robin. He sighed, seeing that he was going to have to admit defeat. "Only if Starfire promises never to hold back information from her past again." Everyone turned to look at Starfire. She visibly winced.

"I promise." She whispered, but as the others relaxed, Bumble Bee noticed that she had her fingers crossed behind her back.

**So, was the ending perfect? Was it close? No? I'm a terrible writer? I know. I'm sorry I'm putting you through this torture, and I'm sorry you have to read my less than mediocre writing.**

**Review, please. I won't update until I have at least three reviews. Sorry.**


	7. Party Crashers

Wow.** I'm not usually able to update so soon, not since the third or fourth chapter, but I only asked for three reviews and I got seven in one night after being posted! I feel so proud of my imagination! And so grateful to my fans! (Who knew I had any?)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mi- Get the point? No?- Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine. Understand now? No? Can you read? NOT MINE!**

It was the night of the party. Everyone was at least acting excited, buzzing around the Tower and sneaking peeks at the roof. It was clear they were all struggling to move past their discomfort with Starfire's past, and most of them were succeeding. But not all of them. Raven and Robin were having the most difficulty. They had similar reasons, but both thought the other's weren't justified. They were the only two who were not currently admiring the party setup, instead sitting on the sofa glaring at each other.

"You know you're being ridiculous. Just go and apologise." Raven told him, her eyes narrowed. She had been attempting to convince him to apologise to Starfire for over an hour.

"No, Raven. I can't. We're supposed to be best friends, but she didn't tell me _anything_ about her previous life. Not even a hint! She just let me believe that her life was boring, like nothing important happened. She lied to me Raven." Robin growled, tearing his gaze away from her and staring angrily out the window. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Like you never lied to her before. As for her past, Starfire's right. We never even thought to ask her." Raven said, eyes downcast. Robin tensed, before nodding slowly. He knew he had no right to be upset with Starfire, it wasn't her fault that the Titans had formed the wrong opinion of her.

"What about you, Raven? I know you're upset with her too." Raven turned away from him, closing her eyes.

"Go apologise Robin. I just need a little more time. I'll talk to Starfire tomorrow." She whispered, before standing and gliding out of the room. Robin watched her go, admitting to himself that he was procrasinating. He sighed, deciding it would be best to apologise to Starfire during the party. That way, she couldn't get too mad at him, right?

Eleven at night found both teams of Titans on the roof, enjoying the Anniversary Party. All the trouble of the last few days seemed to melt away with the pounding music and flashing lights. The whole city could hear the party, and hurried through the streets with a small smile, having known what to expect on this day every year. A few citizens held parties of there own in the streets, blasting tunes and holding dance-offs. But of course, the Titans didn't see any of this. How could they when they were too wrapped up with the food and music, dancing and laughing?

All the Titans took turns on the dance floor, currently it was Bumble Bee and Cyborg along with Aqualad and Raven. As the latter pair danced past Robin, he could see Raven was blushing deeply. When they moved from his view, he could see Starfire standing with Mas y Menos, clearly struggling to understand the duo. Suddenly, an idea seemed to hit her. A sense of dread filled Robin as he understood what she was about to do. He lunged forwards, trying to dodge the two dancing couples, and shouted; "Starfire, don't!" But he was too late. She had leant forward and shared a quick kiss with Mas, who had promptly fainted. Menos, on the other hand, looked furious. Starfire seemed to realise her mistake and quickley began to babble what Robin could only suspect was apologies in Spanish. Menos, looking dejected, dragged his brother away.

Robin slowly crept closer to Starfire, who was watching their retreat with regret. "I did not mean to upset Menos." She said, biting her lip. Robin was stunned. Did she know he was there? Was she talking to him? Why would she be talking to him after how much of an idiot he had been?

"Er, Star?" He said nervousley. She turned to face him, and her eyes seemed to frost over. Robin gulped. Still mad, then.

"Yes, Robin?" She said coolly, crossing her arms. Robin took a deep breath. He could apologise. He _would _apologise. If only she wouldn't glare at him like that!

"Uh, well. . . I wanted to say sorry. Cyborg was right. I was being an idiot. I just. . . I don't know." He stammered, inwardly cursing himself for the lame attempt at an apology. Thankfully, Starfire understood.

"You were surprised to learn that I was not what I seemed. That I was faking." Robin nodded eargerly in response. "You were diappointed." Starfire finished. Her eyes were full of suspicion and hurt.

"Yeah! Wait, no! I wasn't diappointed Star." He said, but she didn't seem to believe him. She nodded sadly before beginning to walk off, but Robin grabbed her wrist. "I _wasn't _disappointed. I promise. Your past makes you who you are, but that doesn't mean you've changed just because I know about it. You're still Starfire, my best friend." Robin urged, refusing to release her until she understood.

"But, I am not Starfire anymore. Not to you, and not to our friends. They. . . no longer trust me." Starfire said miserably, pulling her hand free from his grip and grabbing her other arm.

"Of course they trust you. They just have to get used to you again." Robin reassured her, mentally kicking himself for making her think he didn't trust her. Before Starfire could reply, there was a loud metallic screech.

Cyborg quickley shut off the music and they all held their breath, listening carefully. There was a loud crash, and a giant space ship appeared before the Tower. It was a deep purple, the same colour of the uniform Starfire had been wearing when she first came to Earth. With a hiss a platform sunk down onto the roof, carrying with it a handful of hideous creatures. From the middle of the huddle of aliens, came a large form that marched to the front. The Titans instantly recognised it as the same alien that had contacted them yesterday morning.

When the being spoke, it was like every vowel and every constanent were knives cutting into their ears.

"You were warned before. This is your last chance to hand over the Tamaranian." It boomed, making the humans cringe. Starfire looked petrified, colour drained from her face. Speedy was the first to recover his resolve.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." He said, pulling free his bow. At his words, the other Titans soon followed suit. Eyes flaring with white light, Raven came up beside him.

"So maybe you should just go." She hissed, looking for all accounts terrifying. Starfire blinked, shocked at their display.

The Citadelian cocked its head to the side, looking at them with a bemused expression. "Such a show of loyalty. All for _that_." He indicated Starfire, who shrunk back. "Why do you bother?" He seemed genuinely curious. That made the Titans all the more furious.

"Starfire's our friend. We'll protect her because she's important to us, because she's not just a _that_." Beast Boy growled angrily.

The Citadelian considered him silently, before sweeping his menacing gaze over every Titan on the roof. His glare rested on Starfire, who flinched and hid behind Robin. "You would battle us, for. . . _her_?" He snarled, clearly resenting having to refer to the Tamaranian as a 'her', as if she were a _person_. "You would risk the enslavement of your planet, all for something as insignificant as this Troq?" The others bristeld at his words, but Starfire felt a touch of uncertainty. "Tell me, is it truly worth it?" The Citadelian hissed, this time looking directly at Robin. The Titan leader opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, Starfire stepped out from behind him.

"No. It is not." She whispered. The Titans gaped at her.

"What? No, Star - " Cyborg began to protest, but stopped when Starfire sent him a pleading look. She took a shuddering breath, and started to approach the Citadelians.

With a desperate cry of 'No!', Raven flung herself in front of Starfire, stopping her progress. "You can't. I won't let you." Raven told her sternly, to Starfire's complete astonishment. The other girl spun around to face the horendous alien. "Maybe _they _won't risk Earth to fight you," Raven jerked a thumb in the direction of the other Titans. "But I will. You're not taking Starfire."

Starfire and the Citadelian stared at her in confusion, though for very different reasons.

"You are willing to stand up to an entire planet alone, for me?" Starfire murmured, taken aback. She had thought Raven despised her after the events of the last few days.

Meanwhile, the Citadelian was troubled by another matter all together. "Starfire? What is Starfire?" The Titans gawked at Starfire, puzzled. All of them but Cyborg, who shared a look with the Tamaranian.

"Another secret?" Robin asked blandly. They could pratically feel the wall coming up between them.

"Maybe this isn't the time," Cyborg breathed, pointing at the aliens.

They were beginning to draw their weapons, probably bored by too much talking and not enough bloodshed. What was even worse, was that the alien who seemed to be their spokes person, the one the Titans had communicated with, was among them.

"If you will not surrender the Tamaranian, then we have no choice but to destroy you." He stated, brandishing a sword. Starfire looked as if she was going to give herself up to them, but to her astonishment, the other Titans that had not already done so, were also drawing their weapons. The two groups eyed each other for a few seconds before the brawl began.

There were ten Titans against six Citadelians. It should have been easy. It should have been quick, without a chance of failing. It should have been, but it wasn't. The Citadel had the upper hand, and even if it wasn't by much, it was enough. Their skin and armour were too tough to penetrate with Speedy's arrows, Robin's boomerangs, Cyborg's sonic blaster, or Bumble Bee's stingers. The only thing that could do any damage was a physical attack and Starfire's starbolts. Because of this, only Beast Boy and Starfire were able to play to their strengths. Despite this, they all knew they would not win.

One by one the Titans were captured and made to watch the remainder of their friends fight, until only Starfire was left. Her eyes were glowing brighter than ever before and her clothes were torn by the laser weapons and claws of the Citadelians. But not once did she show any sign of weakness.

Finally, Starfire was surrounded by a ring of the aliens, crouching and snarling. Her hands flashed with emerald light, blasting towards any alien that came too close. Suddenly, she stilled. Straightened. And smiled. The Titans were shocked. Adruptly, a coloumn of green light exploded from the girl, knocking the aliens around her unconscious. Only the one who had spoken to them, along with the ones holding the Titans captive, were left. With a quickley barked order, the alien holding Menos let go, causing the young Titan to stumble. But without his brother, Menos could do nothing. The alien stalked towards Starfire, tugging free a strange weapon like nothing the humans had seen before. It was long, with a blade-like tip that squirmed and twisted, flashing with needle thin spikes or blunt edges. Either way, it would clearly hurt.

Starfire didn't look worried. She even went so far as to let her starbolts fade. "If I am to fight you, I believe it would be proper to know your name." She told the alien, letting her defensive stance relax. The alien shot a glance at this leader, before muttering something the Titans couldn't hear. "Very well, Buscur. Let us begin." And with her words, they fought. It was hard to tell who was winning, at least for the other heroes. So they settled for watching the spokesalien's expressions. There was never much change, just a slight downward tug of its mouth if Starfire had gotten a sudden upperhand, or a satisfied flash of his eyes if she had not.

Starfire herself was little more than a blur. She spun and twisted as she fended off the attacking Buscur, as the Titans could see that she was reluctant to truly fight back. Her hesitation however, ended when Buscur began to get desperate and felt it necessary to aim a hit at a frightened Menos. With a hiss, Starfire leaped at him, slowly forcing him to move away from the boy. Obviousley things were getting out of hand. The Titans could tell by watching the supposed leader that Starfire was winning now. They would have been relieved. . . if it hadn't been for one thing.

As Starfire prepared a starbolt that would knock her enemy unconscious, she heard an demand of: "Stop!" She slowly turned, revealing to the Titans how. . . _different_ she looked. Her clothes were little more than rags from claw marks, her boots were missing, as was the usual glove armour she wore. That coupled with how her bright red hair tumbled down her back in _curls_, made her look utterly unStarfire-like.

Starfire froze as she saw the alien pointing a sword at Menos, and the other Titans being held with a sword to the neck as well. "I think it's time to end this," boomed the alien, ordering Buscus to retreat with a flick of his sword. "Either you come with us willingly, or your supposed _friends _die." He snarled, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. Starfire flicked her gaze between him and the two teams of friends. The Titans were shaking their heads franticly, clearly telling her what they wanted her to do. Too bad she couldn't listen to them.

With a sigh, Starfire lowered her glowing hand, the green light in her eyes vanishing. She did not object as two of the aliens hurried towards her and snapped a pair of huge handcuffs on. Nor did she protest when she was led to the ship. In fact, the only time any reaction crossed her face was when the Titans were released and called her name in desperation. Before she was taken from their view, the Titans and Titans East saw a single lonely tear make its path down her cheek.

**This chapter seemed a lot longer on the word document. . . I'm kinda disappointed in myself. Also, as I was reading this chapter over I wasn't happy with it at all. I actually wanted to rewrite the whole thing but thought that it would be cruel to my remaining followers. Wait, do I have followers? Cool. Anyway, so I settled for a few touch ups in the story. Best I could do, sorry! Please review if you like it or if you have some constructive criticism. Probably won't update for awhile. My next chapter has to make up for this bad one. 'Til the next chapter my lovely readers!**


	8. Botched Rescue

**TA DA! I'm baaaack! This chapter took a while didn't it? Sorry. I'd like to give you a valid excuse, but I'm afraid I don't have one. I have to say, I'm ashamed. I kinda. . . may have. . . gotten sidetracked by my Once Upon a Time story. Sorry, I know I shouldn't've started a new story before I finished this one, but I couldn't resist!**

**Disclaimer: Hm. . . I own a laptop, I own a broken binder. . . I own 132 books. . . . but nope, no Teen Titans.**

It had been three days. Three damn days since Starfire was taken. And Robin couldn't stand it. As soon as the Citadel spaceship had left Earth's atmosphere, the Titans had found themselves waking up from a sort of trance. When their brains were functioning at the regular pace Cyborg and Robin had raced each other to the main computer in OPS. Cyborg had won, getting there first. His hands were blurs as they skimmed the keyboard, bringing up screens and windows only for Cyborg to discard them. With each passing hour, Cyborg had gotten more and more agitated. He wasn't the only one. All the Titans, whether East or original, were feeling the strain of being without Starfire. Of course, there was also an underlying tone of guilt for each person except perhaps Cyborg, though it was hard to tell with him.

Robin figured three days was rather generous. Four days was pushing it. By the five day mark, Robin couldn't refrain himself from bursting into the OPS room and start to shout at every one present. Luckily for him, there was only Cyborg and Speedy in the room. After calmly listening to his angry rant, Cyborg had effectively shut him up.

"If you'd care to stop yelling at us, we can tell you where Starfire is," he'd said evenly, stunning Robin so much he was rendered speechless for a moment.

"Well, why didn't you tell me that before!" Robin had eventually burst out.

Speedy had apparently had enough. "All right, that's it. We know you want Starfire back. So do we. Sure, probably for different reasons considering we just want the chance to apologise profusely for being such idiots, which I'm sure you'll do as well. But don't take it out us, the guys who just found her for you." he told Robin sternly. Robin nodded, muttering what could have been an apology.

"So, where is she?" he asked somewhat hesitantly. Cyborg typed a few select keys on the computer and a small window popped up, displaying what looked to Robin like a miniature star chart.

In the middle of the chart was a blinking yellow dot, labelled quite clearly: _Starfire._

"_Dude! _It's freezing!" Beast Boy's complaint was quieted by Raven, who smacked him upside the head. But he wasn't wrong. The nine teen heroes were once again residing on the Tower roof. Strangely for this time of year, it was snowing quite heavily, and the tempeture had dropped tremedously. Of course, no one but Beast Boy paid this any mind. They were too concentrated on the mission layed out before them.

Robin, Cyborg and Bumble Bee had come up with a rather brilliant plan to retreive Starfire. Well, normally it wouldn't be considered brilliant. More like fairly adequate. But considering the time restraint that had been placed upon them, it was a pretty good plan. It admittedly could've been better, but there was no time to fine tune the details, as Raven had so deftly put.

"According to the tracking device installed in Starfire's communicator, she's just past the skirts of the solar system. With a few adjustments that Cyborg's made to the T-Ship, we should be able to get there in two days." Robin told them, taking charge even though his brain felt like cotton.

"Wait. . . there's a tracking device in Star's communicator?" Aqualad asked with a raised eyebrow. "Little obsessive there, don't you think Robin?"

The Titan leader glared at him through his mask, and the Atlantian had enough sense to back off. "Come on. She's already been gone five days. Who knows what could happen if she's left with them for a week," Robin brought them back to the situation at hand, strengthening their resolves.

All eight of them nodded mutely, and they climbed into their T-Ships; Robin and his team in the orange, and Bumble Bee with her team in the blue.

* * *

The Titans cruised through space for forty two hours, a new experience for the Titans East, while it brought nothing but bad memories to the original Titans. Space had been where Starfire had ran off to during her transformation; they had had to save her from a horrible creature determind to devour her. The team had also had to travel to Tamaran for Starfire's sham of a wedding; they were forced to battle the Tamaranian warriors, causing some ill feelings between the two planets. They had also crashed landed on another planet, and although there had been a few special moments between Robin and Starfire, the flight back to Earth was hell. The T-Ship had had difficulty, threatening to crash at any moment. All in all, their time spent in space was not something the Titans liked to remember. Well, at least not for most of them. Starfire felt terrible that they didn't have good memories of space; she never failed to tell them an amusing story about her adventures, and the true beauty in the endless stars.

As they flew through the vast vacuum, the Titans kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the Citadel ship. Just as they were about to lose hope, the Titans East spotted the ship far away. Beast Boy, Raven, Mas, Menos and Aqualad had immediately insisted that they increase the ships speeds so as to arrive at the Citadel's quicker. But Cyborg, Bumble Bee, Robin and Speedy had carefully dissuaded them, pointing out that if they weren't cautious, the Citadel's could see their approach and harm Starfire before they could save her. Reluctantly, the others had agreed, with the promise that they would try to hurry it up a bit.

It took another four hours for them to get close enough to board the Citadel's ship. There was a slight hesitation in the air as the Titans prepared themselves to board. They didn't have a concrete plan. So much could go wrong. Any one of them could get caught, could get hurt. One mistake, and the game could be over for Starfire. Permanetly. Nonetheless, the Titans and Titans East pushed forth, determind to rescue their friend.

* * *

The nine Titans silently crept down the seemingly endless corriders. The walls were titanium, tinged a deep purple that made the shadows dart across the walls. Their footsteps echoed around them, making their hearts leap to their throats everytime they rounded corner after corner, terrified a muderous alien was about to leap upon them. Finally, after yet another bend in the snaking corrider, Cyborg stopped them at a wide door; there was a brilliant green light seeping beneath the crack of the bottom on the door.

"Sparky? Is she in there?" Bumble Bee breathed in his ear, her eyes bouncing around the small pocket of space in which they were all standing. Cyborg shook his head, as if to dislodge stray cobwebs.

"No." he mumbled, unable to move his gaze away from the radiating green light spilling out onto the floor. "It's just. . . that light. It looks so familiar. . ." Once again he gave his head a sharp jerk, this time able to look away from the light. "Let's keep going,"

Before they took more than three steps, a booming voice made them freeze in their tracks. "Humans. Why have you come? Certainly not just for the girl?" the voice roared, shattering their ear drums. Beast Boy growled angrily, but made no move against the alien. At least it - he - had stopped calling Starfire 'Troq'.

"Actually, we _have_ come for Starfire. Now, where is she?" Robin demanded, hands balled into tight fists. The alien materialized before them, though it was practically impossible to tell, it looked like he was smirking.

"Would you like to see her?" the alien was clearly taunting them. But this was also the only chance of escape Robin could see. With a slight nod of his head, he dearly hoped he was not putting the lives of both teams at risk for nothing.

Three of the Citadelians led the Titans and Titans East to a dark, damp offshoot of a corrider deep within the ship. The walls here were not tinged purple, instead they were stained red, but the heroes felt a sick feeling in their stomachs that told them that it had not been that colour originally. None of them dared breathe a word until one of the aliens yanked open a chained door, barking orders at someone inside. Whoever it was, they seemed to obey as there was no interference as they were shoved inside. Two of the gray-skinned beings made quick work of tying the Titan's hands and feet together, subduing their struggles by hissing threats in their ears, not threatening them, but Starfire.

The aliens clanged the door shut again, the chains jingling as they were locked tightly once more. Silence blanketed the teams, none knowing what to say or do. Then, they heard a hoarse whisper: "Titans?"

They all jumped at the voice, straining against their bindings, attempting to spot the source through the thick darkness that had settled over them.

"Titans, is it truly you?" the voice came again, life creeping into the dead sounding tones.

A figure shuffled closer to them, bound like they were, and as a dull light fell on their face, the original Titans gasped in recognition, while the Titans East swallowed painfully.

**Well, surprisingly, I have no idea who the person is yet. It could be obvious, but you never know. I could surprise you! On a completely unrelated topic; should I bring Blackfire into the story? Or. . . would it mess up the plot, in your minds? Up to you. I can't start the next chapter until I know what you think. Oh, but it could take a while for my next update. I'm gonna start studying for exams in May, so I won't have much time to write. I will in my spare time, of course. But that'll be few and far between. Sorry. But. . . you could hurry with the reviews about Blackfire, and I might be able to post the next chapter before the end of April.**


	9. Unexpected Choices

**OH MY GOSH! I managed to update before May! (barely) I am so proud. I actually wrote this entire chapter during English class. My teacher let me 'cuz I did an Ancient Greek Mythology unit last year and I own two books on the subject that I have thoroughly read, reread and memorized. So I was free to do whatever I please.**

**Disclaimer: Hm. . . two afore mentioned mythology books. . . an eygptian chess set. . . many English flags. . . nope, still no Teen Titans.**

"Are - are you Wildfire?" Robin stuttered uncertainly, stumbling over the foreign name. Starfire had shown them holograms of her brother, though they had not known who he was. Now, all nine of them remembered Starfire's story, how she believed her brother was lost in space. It was quite obvious that the young boy in Starfire's 'pictures' was the same Tamaranian standing before them. He was several years older, but there was still tell tale signs remaining in his features. The same shade of vibrant red hair, a tone darker than his sisters. Bright green eyes, the exact same colour and shape as Starfire's. There was also an old scar across his right cheek, hardly visible unless reflected by the light. Starfire had told them that she and Blackfire had given him that scar when they were little, but didn't tell them why or how.

The assumed 'Wildfire' sighed in relief. "Yes. Yes, I am Wildfire." he whispered. "And you are the Teen Titans?" he inquired, eyeing their costumes. Robin nodded slowly, growing suspiscous. The boy couldn't have been more than fourteen years old, if that. Seeing his discomfort, Wildfire quickly explained. "I returned to Tamaran a little over two years ago, and Galfore told me about Starfire's situation on Earth. About how she joined a superhero team that called themselves the 'Teen Titans'. I was on my way to visit her on your planet when I was taken captive by the Citadel."

Robin still seemed wary of the young boy, but there wasn't much he could do. They were trapped in a cell together, held captive by the same aliens. And if he truly was who he said he was, then Starfire would have complete trust for him, Robin was sure.

"How long have you been here?" Raven asked carefully. Wildfire seemed to consider this a moment.

"I am afraid I am not entirely used to your units of time but, from what I understand, it has been equivalent to two years." The Titans and Titans East gaped at him.

"How did you learn English?" Bumble Bee asked, being one of the few who were not aware of Tamaranian's learning any language through lip-contact.

"There was another prisoner on this ship that could speak something similiar to it. It it not the same, but it is close enough to carry out a converation." Wildfire told them. Bumble Bee, Aqualad and Speedy looked perplexed by his answer, while Menos huffed angrily and Mas sighed dreamily. "Why are you here? My sister is not with you, is she?" Wildfire seemed to panic at the thought. He began examining them all closely, as if they were concealing Starfire from him.

"No, Starfire isn't _with _us," Cyborg began, and Wildfire seemed to relax. Until he continued. "But she is being held captive on the ship." Wildfire groaned and sank to the floor, struggling with his restraints as he did so.

Before anything could be said, to the young boy or the Titans, there was loud clanging as the door was forced open once more. The Titans tensed, preparing for a fight despite being unable to take more than three steps without falling on their faces. But no alien entered. Instead, something was shoved inside - no, not something, _someone - _they realised as the mystery person groaned faintly when they came in contact with the floor. The alien outside seemed to chuckle.

"You wanted to see your friend, yes? Here she is," at his words, the Titans gazed down at the prone figure still bathed in shadows.

"Starfire?" Robin whispered, wiggling through his restraints to get closer to the form. As he approached, it was clear that it _was_ Starfire, though she looked slightly different than she did a week ago. Her hair was shorter, cut unevenly, and no longer shone brightly; instead of being the colour of rubies, it had a resemblance to a copper penny. Her usually glowing tanned skin was pale, coming close to Raven's skin tone. Her uniform was still ripped from the fight with the aliens on Earth, and there was small scrapes scattered across her arms and legs.

Starfire's eyes blinked open and she squinted at them. Her emerald orbs looked tired; dulled and lifeless.

"What did you do to her?" Beast Boy snarled at the alien. The others jumped. The alien had been so silent that they thought it had left.

"We told her that you had arrived to save her," sneered the alien. "She was given a choice. Either we could use her to channel solar energy, or we could use you. She chose herself."

Robin, Cyborg and Raven gazed down upon Starfire, who stared back groggily. Robin and Cyborg recalled her telling them that the Citadel had preformed 'experiments' on her, Blackfire and Wildfire. Had they done so again? Raven, who had not been present when Starfire had told her tale but had been well informed by Beast Boy, couldn't help wild images from coming into her head, depicting what she could only guess had happened to her friend. Beast Boy growled, but quietly this time, aiming a threatening glare at the alien in the doorway. The alien let out a choking sound that could have been a laugh, and shut the door before snapping the chains lock together.

Wildfire shifted closer to his older sister. "Kori?" he whispered in her ear. Cyborg blinked at the name, recalling how Starfire had smiled when he had called her that. Starfire swiveled her head around to look at Wildfire, her eyes widening as she recognised him.

"Ryand'r?" she said weakly. She attempted to crawl closer to him, but wobbled and fell over once more. Robin and Wildfire both leapt forward to catch her; Wildfire reached first and pulled her back up.

"Are you alright, Koriand'r?" he asked urgently, scanning for any sign of life threatening injury. Starfire pushed him away, leaning against the wall opposite.

"I am fine," she mumbled, half-conscious. "But I am afraid that now we are all quite trapped." She peered at the Titans and Titans East blearily. "I am very sorry."

They blinked at her. "What?" Beast Boy said in confusion.

"I am so very sorry," Starfire started again, speaking faster as she saw their shocked looks, apparently under the impression they hadn't forgiven her for whatever she had done. "If it were not for me, you would never have come to the Citadel. You would not be stuck here if I had not become your friend, and for that I am sorry." Starfire hung her head in shame, leaving her unable to see their increduous and angry expression.

Before Robin could deny anything she had just said, Cyborg lightly smacked her arm. "Don't you dare ever say that again," the half-robot said casually. Starfire looked up at him, wearing a complexed look.

"But-"

"No 'but's, Kori. Butts are something you sit on."

Starfire giggled at Cyborg's choice of words, while Wildfire started at him calling his sister 'Kori'. He didn't think any of them knew her actual name, and even if they had picked it up when he addressed her earlier, he doubted they would use it. But here was a human friend of his sister's, using her Tamaranian name like it was her Earth one.

"So. . . is there a way out of here?" Raven asked, reluctantly interrupting the pocket of peace around Cyborg and Starfire. The Tamaranian girl slumped back once more, her eyes drooping. Wildfire watched her in concern as he answered.

"It the means of escaping without notice? No," Raven and the others visibly deflated but Wildfire carefully pressed on. "But," Beast Boy instantly perked up. "If someone was to. . . stay back as a distraction. . . there is an escape hatch down the hall. . ." Wildfire left the suggestion hanging in the air.

Robin sucked in a breath. "I'll -"

But Wildfire swiftly cut him off. "If you remained behind, the Citadel would hand you over to the Psions," the Titans and Titans East noticed how he and Starfire both shivered once the word slipped from his mouth. "You would not be able to withstand the experiments that. . . Starfire has just protected you from." Cyborg noted how Wildfire hesitated before addressing his sister with her Titan name, while the others paled.

"Wait, so Starfire was just experimented on?" Beast Boy's voice shook. "Like she was before she escaped the Gordanians on Earth?" Wildfire nodded grimly. They all shot a shocked look at the semi-conscious girl in the corner.

"If. . . If none of us can be the distraction, who can?" Bumble Bee asked, quickly looking away from Starfire. Wildfire considered this.

"Well, the only ones who would be able to survive the Psions long enough could not be human," Robin's eyes widened as he understood what this meant.

"So either you or Starfire," he stated blandly. Wildfire nodded. "We only came to the Citadel ship to get her back," he said quietly, his gaze resting on Starfire.

"I shall stay."

They stared at Wildfire. They nodded slowly. It was the only option. They couldn't leave Starfire behind, or else the whole mission would be a complete waste. None of them could stay behind either. There was no choice.

"She won't like it," Cyborg warned, but even he didn't come up with any other suggestions. Once he glanced around the room and saw nine determind yet regretful faces, and one pale, pained one he sighed. "When do we do it?"

"Tonight," Robin and Wildfire spoke at the same time, both of their voices firm and unwavering.

"Okay."

**Yay! I'm off the hook for another three days before I have to start the next chapter! Yay! JK. Maybe. Anyway. . . yeah. I got nothing. . . anyone watch Rise of the Guardians? I think I'm obsessed with it.**


	10. Cost of Escape

**Sorry, this chapters shorter than some of the others, but I couldn't figure out how to end this paticular part without skipping scenes, and I hate doing that. (it makes the story choppy in my opinion.)**

**I'm in love with school again!**

**Disclaimer: Hm. . . seriously? How many damn times until you get the cursed message?! Jeesh. No ownie Titansie. **

Wildfire and Robin were crouched on either side of the entrance to the cell, Robin cradling Starfire in his arms. The others were hidden in the shadows along the wall closest to the Titan leader. Wildfire and Robin shared a quick look where Robin nodded, before the Tamaranian boy raised a fisted hand and shot three quick starbolts at the door. The door shuddered and groaned, but didn't open. Wildfire took a deep breath and repeated the action. Again, the door didn't give.

As he was working, Robin kept looking down at Starfire with mounting worry. She was far too pale, and was shivering uncontrollably. But the thing that worried him most was the fact that her breathing seemed to be slowing considerably.

"Hang on, Star," he breathed in her ear as the door finally gave way.

Almost immediately there were shocked and enraged yells from the aliens on the otherside as they surged forwards, into the cell. They stopped, blinking in astonishment at the near empty room. The only one visible was Wildfire, who stood in the middle of the room, and despite being tied up, he looked rather intimidating. The boy let out a cry and ran at the guards, breaking through his restraints with his starbolts. As the aliens were distracted, the Titans crept out of the doorway unseen.

Robin quickly scanned both ends of the hallway. Wildfire had told them to keep going right, and not to look back. But all Robin could see down the right side was dark shadows and sinister corners, whereas the left corrider was blissfully straight and clear. Perhaps the boy had gotten confused and given them the wrong directions? Just as Robin's footsteps began to stray down the left corridor, Cyborg dragged him back.

"He told us to go right," he reminded his leader. Robin's eyes narrowed but he said nothing as they started down the right hallway. After counting thirteen twists and fifty three doorways, Robin gave up on trying to remember their location. The ship was just too big. Finally, when they were all beginning to stumble with exhaustion, they found it. The escape hatch.

Raven hesitated before prying open the hatch door. She didn't open it fully, scared by the loud noises it made. The nine of them, Robin still juggling Starfire in his arms through his restraints, squeezed into the tight compartment. Once inside, they discovered it was much more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

Speedy pushed the door closed again, sealing it with a muffled _click!_ He then promptly collapsed against it, sliding to the floor. Wildfire had warned them not to leave the ship through the escape hatch until they were sure the aliens weren't around the corner. Cyborg extracted a laser from his fingertip, concentrating it on the restraints around his wrists. After a few seconds they snapped apart, freeing his hands. He then made quick work of the rest of the restraints, before helping the others. The last one to be freed was Starfire, who only twitched in response.

Robin didn't release her as they waited, he stayed in the corner cradling her in his lap. After what felt like days, Beast Boy crept over to the door and peeked out the tiny window. It was pitch black outside the hatch, though the hatch itself was irritatingly dim.

"I-I think we can go," Beast Boy whispered uncertainly. Aqualad quietly joined him, scanning the corriders outside their small sanctuary. He turned to look at Cyborg, giving him a nod. Cyborg gestured for them to get back, so the two of them slunk towards the back of the hatch along with the rest of the Titans. Cyborg stepped towards the miniscule control panel that was installed off to the side of the door. He struggled to understand the foreign digits and squiggles, but failed miserably. This was not one of the many alien languages he knew.

"Cyborg, is there a problem?" Robin inquired sharply. Cyborg stepped back, shaking his head in defeat.

"I can't make sense of it," he confessed. Robin fell silent. Cyborg's gaze strayed to the stirring figure in his arms. He hated the thought that he came up with - Starfire deserved peace, no matter how momentary - but he couldn't think of any alternative. "Maybe, Star . . ." he suggested quietly. Robin's grip on her tightened, but this caused the girl's eyes to flutter open weakly.

"Robin?" she breathed.

"Star," Robin struggled to form the words. "I know you want to sleep, to forget what just happened, but we need you to do something so we can get out of here."

Starfire's eyes traveled over him to the others. Finally, her gaze locked on Cyborg and his position in front of the control panel. She seemed to register their surroundings. Starfire let out a startled gasp and began straining to sit up. Robin gently helped her, following her actions as she then tried to stand upright. They slowly wobbled over to Cyborg, who took Starfire from Robin in concern. She paid him no mind as she ran a light hand over the confusing buttons of the panel. She carefully picked and prodded certain signs while skipping others completely. After the third sequence of this, the where was a long _hiss!_ echoeing around them. The hatch jerked suddenly to the left, causing all of them but Starfire and Cyborg to crash to the floor. There was the clear feeling of the hatch dispatching itself from the ship and a brief moment of nauseating free falling before it stabled and they knew they were floating in space, without guidance from the Citadel ship.

Starfire slumped to the floor, only just being caught by Cyborg before she cracked her head open.

"Woah, lil' lady," Cyborg mumbled as he eased her comfortably on the ground, settling beside her. Starfire let out a brief _huff!_ of air, that might've been a laugh before clutching her head in her hands.

"What happened?" she winced as her voice grated through her throat, invoking pain throughout her whole body.

Nobody answered her and the hatch grew unnaturally quiet. There were eight teenagers and two fast paced Spanish twins compiled into a confined space: it should not have been possible for it to have been so silent. Something was wrong, and Starfire sensed it immediately. She quickly recounted those present. Her head spun unpleasantly as she forced her tired brain to function. Bumble Bee and Speedy were hunkered down in the far left corner, with Robin in the far right. Aqualad was huddled in between them, facing the closest right corner. Raven and Beast Boy sat there, watching her with pity and regret. Mas y Menos were, for once, not babbling spanish praises to her, instead nervously fidgeting in the middle of the hatch space. Of course, Cyborg and Starfire were semi-collapsed under the control panel, leaving them in the left most corner.

There was one person missing, Starfire decided. Or had that been an illusion, brought on by the experiments?

"Where. . . Where is my brother?" Starfire whispered hoarsley. Silence met her words. "Where is he? Where is Wildfire?" she demanded, more strongly now. Cyborg sighed sadly.

"Kori. . ." he began quietly.

Starfire's eyes widened in horror as she sensed the regret and grief in his voice. "No. . ." she whispered, tears springing to her emerald orbs. "Not again," Cyborg looked on at her sadly as she began to deny the truth.

"Kori," he tried again. But Starfire didn't listen. "Kori!" he said, louder this time. He caught her attention. She stared at him as she attempted to regain control over her shaky breathing again. "He offered to stay behind." A few tears escaped now, making quick tracks down her dirtied and bloodied face. A sniffle followed the tears. The tears and sniffle were soon accompanied by shivering shoulders and muffled sobs. Cyborg allowed her to fall into his comforting arms and cry.

Robin watched them, looking as if he very much wished to be in his place, but didn't disrupt them. Cyborg narrowed his eyes at him over the sobbing girl in his hug. Apparently, Robin wasn't going to change any time soon. Even for Starfire.

The girl pushed herself away from Cyborg after a little while, but not fully. Just enough to see his face and the others. She didn't say anything, just looked at them all briefly with red eyes before they rolled up into the back of her head and she fell back against Cyborg.

Starfire passed out.

**I kinda love the whole Cy/Star brother/sister thing. Dunno why. Just cuz I guess. I also like how Cyborg calls her 'Kori' and stuff. Whatever. I wrote this during Maths class this time. Which is incredibly surprising cuz normally I would get in SO much trouble for that. Very strict teacher. But we were watching Shrek, so it's all good. (Although the whole watching a movie in Maths is weird to,) But I guess it's understandable since there was only six students in the class and we were all girls. Including the teacher. Whatever.**

**Think we can get 50+ reviews for this chapter?**


	11. Surprising Colours

**AWW, YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! I love reviews. They make me feel really happy, and make me think people actually read and enjoy what I write! He he. And since I got my 50th review today, like I asked for last chapter, I decided to be generous and type this up extra quickly! You guys are lucky this is one of my few days off for studying this month! **

**Disclaimer: I love Teen Titans and all, but I have enough problems without having to sue people that don't have these stupid disclaimers. I never have, nor will I ever, own Teen Titans. **

"I am so sick of this thing," Speedy muttered as he kicked the wall of the escape hatch. "We've been stuck here for three days! When can we land? The sooner we land, the sooner we can go back home."

Aqualad sighed and yanked him back down to the floor. "Just leave it," he advised the archer. "In case you haven't noticed, we're in space searching for a suitable planet to land on, not in a mall car park looking for somewhere to park."

Speedy grumbled and scooted away from him.

"Quit sulking," Bumble Bee ordered. Speedy looked at her in disbelief. "Don't look at me like that. You _are_ sulking."

"Would you all just be _quiet_?" Raven snapped, glaring at them through her hood.

"Why? Are we interrupting your meditating? Well, _sorry _little Miss -"

Beast Boy quickly cut off Bumble Bee, stopping what was sure to soon escalate to a fight. "Look," he spoke quickly, as if afraid they would jump over him and tear each other apart. "I know tensions are running kinda high, what with us being stuck in a metal closet, but let's try to look on the bright side, okay?"

Bumble Bee and Raven stared at him. "What bright side?" Raven muttered.

"Well. . . we're alive! And we got Starfire back," Beast Boy reminded them. At his words, the two girls guiltily looked over to the corner where Starfire lay, having not woken up since three days prior. After the first day, Robin had helped Cyborg prepare a sort of bed for the girl, made out of ragged tarps they had found in the hatch storage. Cyborg and Robin took shifts watching over her during what they all assumed to be night, in case she woke up and didn't know where she was. It had yet to happen; Starfire remained unconscious and unaware.

"Right," Bumble Bee mumbled, settling back down in her previous spot. Raven soon followed suit, and the two stayed silent for several minutes.

A bundle of blankets stirred in the right corner. Mas y Menos peeked out, looking disshevelled. The Titans and Titans East had decided it was best to take turns sleeping, so if something happened then there would always be someone awake to deal with it.

As it was, the something chose that moment to happen. Beast Boy had begun crawling to the blankets, for it was his turn, when the hatch violently shook. He was sent crashing into the wall along with Aqualad, Raven, Bumble Bee, and Speedy. Mas y Menos slid across the floor, flying into Cyborg, who stumbled back, almost stepping on Starfire. Robin was the only one able to maintain his balance, though it was a close call.

"What the - ?" Speedy muttered as he stood and brushed himself off.

Cyborg shoved the twins off him and dragged himself over to the tiny window. Instead of seeing the endless stars and pitch black darkness that had been surrounding them for days, he found a vast aray of oranges. Not the fruit, the colour. Utterly confused, he tried yanking the door open. But Speedy jumped forward and pulled him away.

"Are you _insane_?" he hissed, releasing him. "We don't know where we are! What if there isn't enough oxygen? Too much carbon dioxode? What if the gravity isn't enough? Or if it's too much? We could die if you open that door!"

Cyborg rolled his eye. "Well, we won't know unless we open it, will we?" With that, he stepped forward once more. The door groaned before it emitted a large quantity of smoke and collapsed. Cyborg dusted off his hands."Guess we have no choice but to move on," he said cheerfully. Speedy glared at him.

They exited the hatch cautiously, unsure on this foreign planet. Everything was in varying shades of orange. Beast Boy snorted sleepily. "Figures," he yawned.

"What?" Raven asked sharply.

"Every planet we visit has a central colour theme. Wasn't Tamaran mostly made up of purple? And that Locrix planet was green. Don't even get me started on those planets we went to when we were searching for Star! And now the planet we crash land on in an escape hatch is orange," Beast Boy told her. "It's just odd."

"_You're _odd," Speedy grumbled.

"Mature," Beast Boy replied coolly.

"Enough!" Bumble Bee and Robin said this at the same time, glaring at their team members. Robin was carefully balancing Starfire in his arms again, determind not to let her go until he deemed it safe.

"So. . . where do we go?" Aqualad asked, surveying their surroundings. Cyborg shrugged and started walking left. The others followed him. They had to bat away strange peach-coloured leaves and creepy tangerine insects kept trying to bite them. Finally, they stumbled upon a clearing. Surprisingly, it wasn't orange. It was a beautiful mix of red and pink; bright, but not overwhelming. Deciding this would be safe enough for the night, Robin allowed them all to fall to the ground in exhaustion. It was hard to tell on a different planet, but the Titans and Titans East knew they had been walking all day - or night.

Bumble Bee sighed and settled up against a twisted plant vaguely resmebling a tree. The 'tree' twitched and curled itself around her like a blanket. She blinked in shock for a moment, before her eyes slid shut and she was sent snoring softly.

Beast Boy crawled into a patch of magenta grass, transforming into a large dog and getting comfortable for the night.

Raven sat close to him, leaning against a furry boulder that chirped and moved into a pillow shape for her. Normally, Raven would find this disturbing, but she had reached a level of tiredness that surpassed her common sense.

Speedy, Aqualad, Mas y Menos soon layed down around the others, finding their own strange alien life forms to use as beds and pillows.

Cyborg hunkered down near the edge of the clearing, watching the 'forest' with a wary expression. Robin carefully placed Starfire beside him as he, too, got comfy. "Wake me in a few hours," he instructed. Cyborg nodded. Robin turned over and was asleep in minutes.

It was a handful of hours later when Starfire stirred. Cyborg peeked over at her through the veil of darkness. He could just make out her silhouette as she sat up with difficulty. She gasped at the pain and almost fell back again but he grabbed her elbow and helped her lean against a nearby 'tree stump'.

"Hey, Sleepin' Beauty," Cyborg joked, albeit weakly.

Starfire's eyes swept their surroundings, searching for him. Once she found him a relieved sigh escaped. "Where are we?" she asked, her voice sounding scratchy.

"Dunno," Cyborg said.

Starfire stared at him in disbelief. Cyborg chuckled at her surprised look. "My scanners don't work this far from Earth's atmosphere," he explained. "We must be farther than Tamaran."

Starfire scrunched up her face in concentration. "How long since we left Earth?" she asked.

Cyborg mentally counted back. "Well. . ." he began tentatively, watching her out of the corner of his eye as he continued. "Since you were. . . taken by the Citadel," Starfire winced at the reminder of the aliens who still had hold of her brother. "You've been away from Earth for eleven days. The team and I, along with the Titans East, have been gone for less than a week, six days."

Starfire contemplated this for a moment."Who is looking after the city?" she inquired quietly. Cyborg blinked at her. That was unexpected. Starfire jumped when he started laughing, staying careful not to wake the others. "What have I said?" she sounded curious, unable to figure out why her adoptive brother was laughing at her.

"Nothing, it's just. . . just so _you_," Cyborg struggled to speak through his gasping laughs. Slowly he sobered. "I shouldn't be laughing, really," he said. "It's not all that funny."

Starfire sighed in defeat. "I fear that I do not understand, Victor."

At the use of his real name, Cyborg's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to laugh again. "After everything that just happened over the past week, you ask about Jump City," he said. Starfire looked away. Cyborg sighed as he realised what was wrong. "How are you?" he asked her in concern.

Starfire hid her face in her hands and her words came out muffled. "I am. . . not okay." Cyborg was faintly surprised at her answer. Of course he knew she wasn't okay - how could she be? - but he hadn't expected her to admit it. He was sure that if anyone else had been in this place, instead of him, she would've lied to spare them their feelings. But he and Starfire were close, like none of the others. Not in the same way as Robin and Starfire, but in a sibling way. Starfire was like family, like his little sister.

Before he could talk to her more, maybe reassure and comfort her, Robin bolted upright from his spot on the ground. He looked around, disorientated, before finally seeing them. After shooting Starfire a worried look, he sent a glare at Cyborg.

"I thought I told you to wake me after a few hours?" he said hotly. Cyborg shrugged.

"Kinda busy." He hid his irritation well as he indicated an awake and responsive Starfire. Robin's expression immediately relaxed as he surveyed the girl. Confirming that she was not harmed, he gave Cyborg a pointed look. Cyborg sighed and gently ruffled Starfire's hair.

"Guess it's time for me to get some shut eye," he fake yawned, glaring at Robin through the slit of his eye. "G'night, Kori," he said quieter, so Robin wouldn't hear.

"Pleasant dreams, Victor," she whispered, turning her head so their leader couldn't read her lips either.

Cyborg grinned and moved to find somewhere comfortable to sleep, leaving Robin and Starfire alone.

"So. . . uh, are you okay?" Robin asked, not meeting her gaze fully. Starfire was confused by this. Robin, usually so brave and determind, was always stuttering and awkward around her recently. She didn't answer his question. Robin cursed silently.

"Right, course you're not," he mumbled.

"It depends on how you are asking," she suddenly said; Robin was so stunned that he swung his eyes around to look at her.

"What?"

"Are you asking if I am physically well, or mentally?"

"Uh. . ."

"Are you even capable of carrying out a proper conversation?"

Robin narrowed his eyes at her out-of-character irritable tone. "If you don't want to talk, fine," he snapped. "Or do you just not want to talk to me? Maybe I should wake Cyborg back up, obviously you have no problems talking with _him_," he grumbled, starting to push off of the ground. But Starfire's next words made him freeze where he was.

"Robin. . . are you jealous?"

**Sorry, I kinda love the idea of a jealous Robin. So sue me. (actually, don't please!) So. . .this might be asking too much of you guys. . .but since you were so AWESOME last chapter. . .**

**How about some 60+ reviews?**

**Asking too much?**


	12. Awaited Confessions

**. . . I. . . wow. I can't believe how easy this story is getting reviews! I honestly didn't think it was that great. Around the seventh chapter I was seriously considering deleting it. But, hey. If this is what readers want. . .**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I only own E'llam'i. I think. **

"Wha - What? Me? Jealous? Of Cyborg? No!" Robin sputtered.

Starfire giggled at his flushed face.

"Alight," she sang in a disbelieving tone.

Instead of stalking off to sleep again, Robin hesitantly sat back down, closer than last time. He didn't say anything for a minute.

"Maybe."

"What was that?" Starfire was completely mystisfied. Had Robin just _admitted _to being jealous?  
He sighed heavily. "Maybe," he growled, louder this time. At her dazed look, he hurried to explain. "It's just. . . you and Cy have this whole. . . _thing_, and you're really close, close enough that you talk to him about stuff that you don't talk to me about, and I'm supposed to be your best friend!"

Surprisingly, Starfire's expression hardened. "You have to earn your place as a best friend," she hissed.

"What?" Robin was taken aback at her sudden mood swing.

"For the past few weeks you have been terrible to me! You were distant when the Citadel first sent a message to Earth, then when they did so again you started interrogating me! And when I told you off my past, my life before the Titans, you were downright mean!"

Robin gaped at her outburst. "But. . . I thought we were okay about that. I apologised, at the party -"

"Oh yes, because a few insincere honey-coated words make it all better!"

For some reason, Robin found this hilarious. He cracked up, gasping for breath. "You have. . . been spending. . . _way _too much. . . time with. . . Raven!" he choked out between laughs.

Starfire huffed and crossed her arms tightly across her chest. But after sneaking a few peeks at him through the corner of her eye, she couldn't help a small smile from spreading across her face. A quiet giggle even escaped.

Finally regaining control over himself, Robin straightened. "Starfire," he said, so seriously that she started. "I really am sorry," he whispered. "I was a jerk. More than a jerk. . . I'm really sorry."

Starfire chewed her lip, contemplating. "You were. . . awful. It hurt me. I needed you, I needed my best friend. But you turned away from me. Cyborg was there when you were not. He comforted me when you did not. He distracted me, made me laugh. I felt as if I could relax around him because he was the _only one _who did not hold my past against me. He. . . is like family to me."

Robin nodded glumly. "I was such an idiot. And the worst thing is that I _knew _I was being stupid. I just couldn't wrap my mind around. . . _you_. The new side of you that I've never known about. I had foolishly thought you were a beautiful alien that had got caught up in some minor trouble and escaped to Earth to avoid being in trouble with your planet. I guess I kinda thought of you as a damsel in distress in a way. Then, when you told us about _before_, when you were sacrificed for Tamaran, and everything else, I just. . . I realised I was wrong."

Starfire studied him. "And. . . are you disappointed?"

"No!" His sharp voice caught her off guard and she jumped, sliding away from the 'tree stump'. He managed to catch her before she hit the ground and gently pulled her closer. Her head spun so much that she couldn't protest, though she wasn't sure if she would have anyway.

"Starfire," he said softly. "We've already been over this. You are who you are. I don't care if your always bright and cheery, or if your dark and moody like Raven." Starfire giggled. "I'm your best friend no matter what. I know I've been a terrible friend, unworthy of your friendship, but I hope I can still change that. If - If it's not too late, that is." He stared at her in worry, reaching for her hand but stopping short, silently asking her to meet him half way.

She lightly placed her hand in his.

* * *

When the others awoke to the sound of shrill screeching, it was to see a strange sight before them. Miraculously, Starfire was awake. And she had somehow ended up snuggled in Robin's arms. Cyborg smirked and gestured for them to keep quiet as he slowly slunk towards the duo. Starfire let out a rather satisfying shriek when he popped his head around the 'tree stump' and greeted them with a long, "Moooorning."

"Cyborg!" Starfire gasped as she lowered her hands from her mouth. "What was that for?" She sounded breathless, and winced when Robin shifted to glare at him.

"Sorry, lil' lady," he quickly apologised, seeing her pained expression.

"It is alright," she breathed.

Cyborg still watched her in concern as Robin carefully helped her to her feet. She stumbled, almost falling, but both Cyborg and Robin grabbed one of her arms. She gave them both a grateful smile.

"Okay, where to now?" Bumble Bee stretched, shaking the dirt off her outfit as she did so.

Not releasing Starfire's arm, Robin looked around. "Uh. . ." he said, trying to decide. They couldn't even see the path they took last night, everything was just orange for miles.

Starfire, however, squinted at the 'trees'. "Cyborg," she said conversationally, now studying the furry boulder Raven had used as a pillow. "When we were in the escape hatch, did you happen to see if we passed Titian?"

Cyborg stared at her before muttering something no one could hear.

"It is alright, Cyborg." Starfire reassured him, seeming to understand the problem. "Titian is a small red planet, not far from what I believe to be our coordinates. If I am correct, if you did indeed see us pass Titian, then I believe I know where we are."  
Before Cyborg could answer, Aqualad cut across him.

"We took shifts watching through the small window, and I'm sure I saw a tiny red planet when it was my turn. It was only a flash, but I'm sure it was light red. I think it also had little pink dots?" He twisted the last part into a question, concerned that he had seen the wrong planet. But Starfire nodded at his answer.

"So does this mean you know where we are?" Raven questioned. She recieved another nod from Starfire.

"Where are we?" Beast Boy pitched in eargerly.

Starfire sighed. "Its name cannot be pronounced in your language. It would be fruitless to try to tell you."

"At least you know what planet we're on," Speedy said, relieved.

"That is the problem," Starfire frowned. "I am not entirely sure if us being on this planet is a good thing, or a very bad thing."

"Why would it be bad?" Robin asked.

"This planet. . . is not very welcoming. There are many threats: wild beasts, savage insects, and man-eating plants. On the other hand, I have an old friend on this planet who may lend us her ship."

The Titans and Titans East thought about this. "Well," Cyborg said suddenly. "We can either sit here and get eaten by beasts, insects, and plants, or we could try and find this friend," He looked around. "Seems like a rather obvious option to me."

And so the ten of them set off into the strange forest, letting Starfire lead them. She couldn't walk, an after effect of the experiments they supposed, so Cyborg volunteered to carry her. Robin protested, he wanted to be the one to do so, but he couldn't deny that he was tired from walking all night and then only getting a handful of hours sleep. So he allowed Cyborg to lift up the girl and carry her deeper into the 'trees'.

They walked all day, never slowing in case they happened upon a dangerous life form. When Speedy started complaining loudly, Starfire grew uncharacteristically impatient and snapped that they would have to rest because she couldn't stand him much longer. Slightly shocked, Cyborg carefully placed her down on the ground, somewhere Starfire deemed safe.

As they settled around the safe point, Starfire in the middle of the large circle they made, the Titans East could no longer resist asking her questions they had obviously been holding in all day.

"So, uh, Starfire?" Speedy began nervously, slightly afraid that she would yell at him again.

"Yes?" She twisted around to look at him, but whimpered in pain after doing so. Starfire quickly righted herself to relieve the sharp pain in her torso, and faced him.

"I - I just. . . wanted to know - I mean, I understand if you don't want to - but, what exactly happened on the Citadel ship?"

Robin and Cyborg sent vicious glares at Speedy, while Raven and Beast Boy watched Starfire's carefully blank face. For a moment, it didn't seem like she would answer.

"I was there for a week," Her quiet voice instantly silenced any notions Cyborg and Robin had to pounce on Speedy. "For the first two days, I was merely kept in my cell. I saw no light, and was brought no food. It was hard to keep track of the time there, it just felt like a very long night. When I was in my cell, I could not help but worry that the Citadel would go back on their promise and would enslave Earth despite my sacrifice."

Starfire shuddered at the thought, and Robin moved close enough to her to be able to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"On the third day, or maybe the fourth, the door to my cell was finally opened for the first time. Nothing was said. Two Citadelians blindfolded me and took me to a different room. It was not a cell this time. It was a. . . science lab."

She stopped here, and they could all tell she was hesitant to continue. But Speedy persisted.

"And?" he urged.

Starfire took a deep breath. "It was much like before, only this time I gave myself up for a blue planet instead of a purple one." She sent a knowing smile in Beast Boy's direction, who blushed. So apparently Starfire had heard their conversation the other night, when she was supposedly unconscious.

"The experiments. . . were rather cruel. Painful, but nothing I had not already gone through," Starfire trailed off, apparently deciding this was enough information.

"What happened during the week other than the experiments?" Now Aqualad was interested in Starfire's story.

But Starfire appeared to have had enough. She locked her lips tightly and eased herself into a lying position, preparing to sleep. Okay, so she wouldn't talk about the Citadel. That wasn't the only thing to discuss.

"Hey, Star?" Beast Boy started, tentatively. She flicked her gaze over to the green boy. "Um, who is this friend of yours?"

Starfire carefully propped herself back up again. She seemed to search for the right words before she responded.

"Her name is E'llam'i, but I call her Ella. We met many years ago. I was friends with Ella before I was given to the Citadel by Tamaran. The Grand Rulers did not approve of our friendship, but it mattered not to us. Ella is from a planet that was destroyed long ago by the Citadel, she only survived because she was a sacrifice like myself. For the short period she spent on her home planet, she was trained to be a great warrior, the custom of her planet. She was very young when the Citadel took her, but knew enough of the basics to escape.

"Once free, Ella sought out a new home. On her travels, she came across several other warrior planets, Tamaran being one of them. We trained together, though she was better than I was because of her learnings from other planets.

"We became quick friends, and she agreed to teach me what she knew. We were rather young of course, so we could not truly hurt one another, or anybody else. After a year or two, she told me I was a satisfying opponent. I took this to mean I was quite good.

"Just before Tamaran gave me to the Citadel, Ella told me she was going to leave and live on a small orange planet past Titian. I did not understand her at first, but as the Citadel ship was leaving Tamaran, I thought I saw Titian with a tiny orange speck behind it."

"So. . . when you say _old_ friend. . ." Beast Boy began warily.

Starfire rolled her eyes, causing Robin to blink. He didn't know she did that.

"Ella is only a few years older than myself. Nineteen or twenty Earth years, I believe."

"And you think you can find her?" Bumble Bee asked skeptically.

Starfire nodded firmly. "Absolutely."

**Okay, I normally hate it when people add their own characters into a story, but I needed a way for the Titans to see Koriand'r! The warrior side of Starfire! I can't do that without E'llam'i. Sorry. But don't worry, she'll only be in maybe two or three chapters. She might only need one. It depends. I'm thinking at least two, though. And no, you can't just skip those chapters. The're important. In case you don't remember, she's the only way for the Titans to get home! **

**Bet you can guess what I would like before posting the next chapter. . .**


	13. Kori and Ella

**Hey! Would ya look at that? Only a few days after my last post! That doesn't usually happen. (I think I just want an excuse to stop studying for exams, blegh.)**

**Disclaimer: I promise, I don't own. Apart from Ella.**

**P.S. - You pronounce E'llam'i = Ella-mee**

It took four days to find E'llam'i. As one of the suns set on the fourth day, the Titans came across another clearing. Starfire was able to walk by then, but tired easily. This clearing was blue and green instead of red and pink.

They hesitated at the edge of the clearing, looking around warily. They stayed there for a minute or so, before Starfire sighed and stepped forward. Nothing. She took another careful step. Then another. Suddenly, there was a flurry of colours and a long sword was pressed against her neck.

The Titans and Titans East instantly drew their weapons, but Starfire didn't even flinch. Instead, she locked eyes with the one threatening to slit her neck. The girl - no, _woman_ - on the other end of the sword was decidedly beautiful. Her waist-long aqua marine hair had a soft wave to it, as if it were made of water. One of her eyes was half-covered by bangs that only reached to just above her perfect nose. Her eyes. . . now they were strange. Beautiful, but different. They were rather like Starfire's eyes, only instead of varying shades of green, they were a wonderful twist of blue and purple, and the pupil was a mix of the two colours. Those eyes were currently narrowed in suspicion, and her light pink lips exposed perfectly white teeth in a snarl.

So entranced with her looks, the Titans barely noticed that she still had not lowered the sword from Starfire's throat. Luckily, Starfire had no such problem.

"Greetings, E'llam'i."

The woman - E'llam'i - wrinkled her nose in disgust. Sword still steady, she replied calmly, as if they were two friends chatting without one friend threatening to kill the other.

"You know I don't like to be called by my full name."

"Considering we have not seen each other for the better part of a decade, I believed the situation called for it."

Finally snapping out of their trance, the Titans and Titans East blinked at Starfire in shock. How could she sound so _relaxed _with a sword against her neck? Since Starfire made no move of attack against E'llam'i, the Titans reluctantly lowered their own weapons, but Cyborg and Robin moved closer to the Tamaranian.

Ella's eyes flicked over them for a short second before she returned it to Starfire with a raised eyebrow.

"I see you escaped the Citadel."

"I could not have done so without your training so long ago."

"You ran straight to humans?"

"They helped me fight the Gordanians."

"And you stayed with them?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why not come here and stay with me?"

"They are my friends."

"Do they know you? The real you?"

"They do now."

Starfire and E'llam'i stayed silent for a moment, studying each other. Suddenly, Ella smiled and lowered the sword.

"Kori," she breathed.

Starfire smiled back at her and Ella crushed her in a hug. Just when the others were getting uncomfortable with watching their reunion, Ella back away.

"So, you live with humans then? On Earth?"

Starfire snorted. "Obviously."

"I have to say, I never thought that'd be your kinda live, Koriand'r."

Starfire shrugged, not answering.

"I take it you're here wanting to borrow my ship?"

Starfire looked behind her, at her human friends, before turning back to Ella. "It would be most appreciated."

Ella nodded, as if she had been expecting this, and turned away and began slowly walking. Not looking at Starfire, she said: "I hope your time with humans hasn't made you soft."

With hardly any warning, she spun around. Within half a second, her sword was once again pointing at Starfire's neck. Again, Starfire didn't flinch. She smirked, placing a finger on the edge of the sharp blade.

"Not at all," she whispered, before pushing away the sword.

"Good to hear," Ella remarked, swooping down and grabbing another sword from the ground. She threw it to Starfire, who swiftly caught it. She did a few swings with the sword, trying to get used to its weight. Once finished, she turned to the Titans.

"I must fight with Ella," she told them frankly. Beast Boy looked as if he would protest, but she cut him off. "Do not worry. The sword is my best weapon. But it is also Ella's best."

"But, lil' lady, you _can't _sword fight! Can you?" Cyborg asked, assessing her. Sweet, innocent Starfire didn't seem like the one to know how to fight with a sword. Then again, Starfire had already proven their assumptions about her wrong.

"No, Cyborg," she said. "_Starfire _cannot sword fight."

She sent a meaningful look at him. He suddenly understood.

At the same time, Cyborg and Starfire said: "But Koriand'r can."

Cyborg sighed and nodded at her. "Go on then, _Koriand'r._"

Starfire beamed at his permission, before the smile slipped away and her face hardened. Her eyes lost their happy sparkle and was replaced with fierce determination. She turned back to Ella, and Koriand'r raised her sword.

"Good to see you again." Ella sounded truly sincere. That made the humans blink. Was Koriand'r really that much different from their Starfire? Maybe they _didn't _know her.

"Okay, so you know the terms. I win, the humans take my ship and leave, while you stay here with me. You win, you may leave with them." Ella seemed to dislike the last option. Speedy could sort of understand why. It must get pretty lonely on this planet with no friends.

"Understood," Koriand'r agreed.

"Then let's begin."

The Titans didn't know who made the first move. Maybe Koriand'r had lunged for Ella, or maybe Ella had swung at Kori. All they knew was that the two alien warriors' fight moved too fast for the human mind to register.

Finally, after one of the suns had risen again, they broke apart. The fight wasn't over, there was no clear winner, but apparently they needed a rest.

Koriand'r's already tattered clothes were in absolute shreds, and E'llam'i wasn't much better off. Kori had shallow cuts covering her arms, and Ella had one long gash down her shoulder. Despite this, they were both grinning. Kori's grin was different from Starfire's. The Titans had seen Starfire's smile many, many times, but Kori's they had only seen maybe once or twice after a particularly vicious battle with Slade -Bots where they had destroyed the robots.

The Kori Smile was a harsh twist of the lips, and glittering eyes.

The Star Smile was a gentle tug at the edges with a bright twinkle in her eyes.

The Titans wondered which smile was the act.

"Alright." Ella stretched, making her tall. "Enough of that."

Kori tossed Ella her sword, before folding herself into a sitting position on the ground. Ella put away the swords and joined her. Hesitantly keeping their distance, the Titans and Titans East did the same. If anybody noticed Speedy purposely placing himself in Ella's direct sight, nothing was said.

After the fight they had just witnessed, the Titans were afraid to speak. Kori and Ella did not have the same problem. They chatted animatedly, bringing laughs from one another. But the Titans couldn't understand a word. They were speaking a strange alien language, and they were unsure of which one. Maybe it was Tamaranian, they had only heard a few words of that. Or maybe it was the language of Ella's destroyed planet. Maybe it was a language from a planet they had never heard Starfire speak of. They didn't know. And they doubted they were going to find out anytime soon.

Suddenly, they noticed Kori's voice go soft and hesitant. Ella's response was short and clipped. Kori's voice grew persistent. Ella's went angry. Kori sighed and said something gently. Ella didn't reply. She turned her head away from Kori, staring into the 'trees'. She muttered something that made Kori smile sadly.

Ella raised a fist at a nearby 'tree' and shot a shaft of turquoise light at it.

A starbolt.

Kori gasped and stared at Ella with horror.

**Yup. There ya go. Oh, and since when does FanFiction have a damn spell checker?!**

**Oh, and I was wondering. . . would any of you be interested in maybe a chapter or two of Ella's life? After I'm done this story, I could add a chapter just about Ella. But only if you're interested, there's no point in writing it if no one's gonna read it. **


	14. Sour Crushes

**Jeez! What's with me updating only two or three days after each post?! That's new (as those of you who have been following this story from the start will know!). I gotta say, I really like Ella. Every time I write about her, her personality just kinda reveals itself to me. I love it! I'm definitely gonna write a bonus chapter (or two) about her life after I finish this story.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own the Teen Titans, OR the Titans East. Just thought I'd clear that up. HOWEVER, I do own Ella, the planet the Titans are currently on, Ella's destroyed home planet, Ella's swords, and Aliek.**

**P.S - Aliek = Alee-ek**

"Ella," Kori whispered, voice shaking. "Why did you not tell me?"

"I didn't think you'd understand."

"Understand?" Kori let out a bitter laugh.

She stood and turned to the same clump of 'trees' that Ella had, and also shot a starbolt.

Ella gaped. "Oh," she said. "But you didn't tell me either!"

Kori rolled her eyes and sat back down. "When did our friendship become so strained?" she groaned.

"Probably after the fifth year of not seeing each other," Ella replied lightly.

"Rhetorical question."

"Sure."

"Um, Sta - err, Kori?" Beast Boy interrupted nervously. Koriand'r turned to him. "Uh. . . so are we going home, or. . .?"

Ella snorted. "Not very sensitive beings, humans."

"They can be," Kori told her. "I know for a fact that they just have to want to."

Beast Boy's ears turned red and he ducked his head. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It is okay, Beast Boy," Kori assured him.

Ella looked as if she was going to disagree with her, but Kori sent her a vicious glare. "Ella and I shall resume our fight after we have rested." Kori seemed vaguely uncomfortable with the idea.

Mas chose that moment to punctuate her statement with a yawn.

"You may sleep here for a few hours," Ella said grudgingly.

Mas y Menos instantly slumped to the ground. Bumble Bee struggled not to do the same, but after a moment her eyes slid shut. Slowly, everyone followed suit apart from Speedy, Kori, Ella, Robin, and Cyborg.

"So, uh, Ella. . . you've got some, uh, interesting looking eyes," Speedy stammered. "They're strange. But you know. . . they're very pretty. Beautiful, even."

Ella studied him. "You think my eyes are beautiful?"

"Yes!" Speedy said, sounding just a little too eager.

"Speedy, man," Cyborg choked out. "Do you have a crush on Ella?"

Kori smirked at the panicked look on Speedy's face.

"Do not worry," she whispered. "I am sure Ella does not understand the slang of your language."

Speedy ignored them. "Are your eyes normal on your planet?"

Ella's expression hardened. "No. They _weren't._" She stressed the use of past tense and Speedy paled as he remembered that Starfire had said Ella's planet was destroyed.

"Oh, uh, right. Sorry," he muttered.

Ella sighed and looked him over again. "You know," she said, as if she had decided something. "You remind me of someone I used to know. His name was Aliek, and you are quite like him."

Speedy brightened. Even though he didn't know who Aliek was, he must've been someone important. Why else would Ella compare them? The comparison _was _a good thing. . . wasn't it?

Apparently, Kori didn't think so. She burst out laughing, clutching her sides. "Aliek? Truly, Ella?"

Ella shrugged. "I know you never met him, but I've told you all about him right? Think about it, doesn't this red haired human - Speedy, did you call him? - resemble what I've told you about Aliek?"

Kori gasped, trying to suck in breaths through her laughter. "Now that I think about it, yes."

Speedy looked in between them, confused. "Who's Aliek?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"Trust me, Speedy. You do not want to know," warned Kori.

"If you guys are making fun of me," Speedy began hotly. "Then, yeah, I think I _do _want to know. Especially if you're comparing me to - to - to some _idiot _alien from some dumb planet that -" He stopped. His mask had grown in size, stretching over eyes that were wide with terror. Ella had grabbed a sword from the ground and whipped it to point at his neck. Her expression was blank, except for her eyes, which burned with barely suppressed fury. Speedy looked pleadingly at Kori, begging for help. But Kori looked angry as well. Whatever he had said, he had made a good job of pissing off two vicious alien warriors. _Well done, Speedy, _he thought dryly.

"_Don't ever speak ill of my planet, or my people. They were brave, braver than you weak Earth scum, and would not hesitate to gut you for your insults. I have half a mind to do the same!_" Ella hissed at him. Speedy gulped nervously. Abruptly, the sword was withdrawn. He sighed in relief, scrambling away. Ella didn't notice, she was busy staring at Kori with anger.

"Enough," Kori whispered. "What Speedy said was thoughtless and stupid. But you really cannot expect more from humans."

Cyborg and Robin recoiled in shock and betrayal. Was that really how Starfire thought of them?

"You are lucky Kori values your lives, otherwise I would make all your hides into clothes." Ella stood and walked to the other end of the clearing, where a small patch of strange pink leaves were arranged into a kind of bed.

"She can have quite the temper," Kori said.

It was then that the three humans realised that Kori _hadn't _betrayed them. If she hadn't stopped Ella and told her that humans were basically stupid, they would probably all be dead.

"Thank you. For not letting her gut me," Speedy choked out between shudders. Kori swiveled around to glare severely at him. He cringed away from her penetrating eyes, curling into a protective position.

"That was very insensitive of you to say those things. Cruel, really. You called her people stupid and her planet dumb! There is no higher insult to those of the Magnificent family! She had every right to kill you. If you had not been my responsibility, I would have helped her!" Kori growled at him.

"What do you mean _your responsibility_?" Speedy crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Who are you depending on to get you a ship home? Who knows space better than you? Who is able to tell you whether food is edible or not? Who can direct you towards safe zones? Who holds your life, and the others, in their hands? Who can kill you in a way that looks like an accident? Like you, a stupid, arrogant, ignorant human just ate the wrong thing and died, no questions asked?"

Speedy gaped at her, along with Cyborg and Robin.

"Um. . . you?" Speedy said timidly. Kori huffed in frustration, and for a tense moment it seemed as if she would slap him.

"Yes," she hissed instead. "_Me. _Therefore, you are my responsibility, and unless you annoy me too much, you will survive."

"Uh. . . thank you."

Kori leapt up from the ground and stomped over to Ella.

"Smooth," Cyborg whispered hoarsely.

"I just said Ella had pretty eyes," Speedy mumbled. Robin snorted.

"You did a lot more than that."

"Ugh!" Speedy cried. "What's with beautiful aliens having scorching tempers? I never thought Starfire was that angry of a person, but seeing the _real _her proves me wrong! And Ella. . . amazingly gorgeous and yet she threatened to gut me! No wonder their planets sacrificed them!"

Robin punched him.

**Sorry, I had to make Speedy an arse. Couldn't help it. Plus, that whole '. . . beautiful aliens, scorching tempers. . .' thing has been in my head for AGES. I didn't think Cyborg would be that mean, nor do I think Robin would be that much of an idiot to say it. Also, I wanted someone to have a little crush on Ella, 'cuz I thought'd be funny. Speedy was the best fit. Sorry to Speedy-lovers.**


	15. Unwelcome

**Hey. I'm back. I think this story is starting to repeat itself, and for that I am sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I'll own Teen Titans when fifty-two dancing/singing chickens award me with a giant check of 1'000'000'000. Not likely. Nice, but not likely.**

**Guk = Gook**

The Titans and Titans East awoke to the sound of loud _clangs! _and the occasional light laugh. After they had ground the sleep out of their eyes and the fog had lifted from their thoughts, the sounds they were hearing became clear.

Koriand'r and E'llam'i had restarted their swordfight. It was half-hearted, though, with lazy swings falling short of their targets and sluggish dodges. They were speaking to each other, Ella bringing smiles and laughter to Kori while she herself remained straight-faced. The Titans idly wondered whether they had heard her laugh yet.

Kori noticed they were awake and quickly muttered something to Ella, who inclined her head to them slightly, avoiding their eyes. Kori watched them for a minute longer before hefting her sword back up and facing her opponent. They were completely still for a second, and the Titans eagerly watched them with bated breath. Then Ella darted forward and swung at Kori, who easily side stepped the blade. Ella tried again by sending her sword gliding upwards, towards Kori's chin. Kori performed an easy back flip, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.

Ella drew back, speculating. Kori assessed the situation, her eyes raking Ella's grip on the sword and the position of her feet. Unexpectedly, Kori leapt towards her and spun the blade at Ella's abdomen. Ella twisted out of the way and caught the butt of Kori's sword with the blade of her own. Kori's sword flew from her hand and skidded across the ground. This left Ella pointing her sword at the defenseless Tamaranian. To the surprise of all the humans present, Kori didn't look at all worried. Quite the opposite. She was rather relaxed, one of her hands resting on her hip while the other traced random patterns through the air at her side.

Ella smiled, a very small smile, and sliced the sword towards Kori's throat. Kori's hand shot up and the sword cut into the hand instead of the throat. Robin winced as the blood spilt from Kori's wound, but Kori herself hardly seemed to notice. She curled her fingers around the blade and yanked it out of Ella's grasp. Instead of using the blade against Ella, Kori tossed it to the side. Without any weapons, the fight continued. Ella and Kori both used fighting techniques and styles the Titans had never seen before, but Kori threw in a few Earth moves too.

The fight ended when Ella was sent flying into the air, landing with a heavy _thud!_ near the Titans. Kori quickly moved to her side and helped her up.

"I guess you're finally better than me," Ella said. The Titans couldn't tell whether she was upset by this or not.

Kori shook her head in denial.

"You were not prepared for human fighting styles. I apologise, but I must use your ship to take the humans home. They are not fit for space."

"Too many dangers?" Ella asked lightly.

"We can handle danger," Speedy said, trying to sound impressive. "You should see the villains we defeat back home."

Ella eyed something behind him while she answered.

"Are you up to fighting a Guk, do you think?"

Speedy looked baffled. He threw an inquiring look at Kori, but she was watching them with amusement. For some reason, the mention of the Guk seemed to make Kori laugh.

"Well, I've never met one, but I'm sure we could handle it, yes," Speedy eventually told Ella.

Ella smirked. "Now's the time to show me that," she said. The Titans and Titans East stared at her in confusion. In answer, Ella raised a slender hand and pointed behind them. They spun around to see a. . . Guk?

It was light purple and covered in fuzz. On it's hind legs it came up to about Cyborg's head. It's fur seemed to be razor sharp, like the fangs sprouting from what they assumed to be it's mouth. The Guk's feet were clawed and deadly looking.

"Um. . . bring it on?" Speedy said tentatively.

The Guk charged them, and the Titans began the fight. It was difficult; every time the humans threw an attack at the beast, the Guk either dodged or the weapon had no effect on it. Still the Titans pressed on, determined to win and show Ella that humans were not weak.

The Guk swiped a claw at Aqualad that sent him flying. Aqualad crashed by Kori's feet and the Tamaranian crouched down, trying to revive him. The next one out was Beast Boy, who was sent out of the fight when the Guk barely missed stomping on his head when he was in mouse form. Though the blow missed, it had left him dazed and disorientated. Bumble Bee was side swiped by the monster mid-flight and crashed into Mas y Menos, leaving all three of them unconscious. As Raven was also defeated, Ella rolled her eyes and scoffed at the humans.

Kori frowned and tutted at her team members. She sidled up to Ella and confessed her disappointment. "They are usually much better than this. I suppose they are not used to the atmosphere."

Ella snorted. "Or maybe you just never saw them clearly through the happy-go-lucky façade you wear," she suggested. Kori shook her head, but it was with uncertainty that she continued to watch Cyborg, Robin, and Speedy struggle against the Guk.

Finally, with the combination of the 'Sonic Boom' and three of Speedy's arrows, the Guk roared in defeat and scurried out of sight. The beast's roar awoke all unconscious Titans, and all nine of them turned to Ella and Kori smugly. Sure, so six of them had been rendered unconscious, they had won, hadn't they? So why were E'llam'i and Koriand'r laughing?

Ella straightened, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. Kori was laughing so hard that she was silent, clearly breathless.

"What's so funny?" Robin demanded.

"Took you long enough," Ella gasped.

"What? That thing was deadly!" Beast Boy cried, a touch of hurt creeping into his voice. Raven, Bumble Bee, Mas y Menos and Aqualad looked at them angrily, while Cyborg, Speedy and Robin glared with crossed arms.

"'Deadly'?" Kori repeated. "Hardly."

The Titans seemed baffled.

Ella rolled her eyes and explained grudgingly.

"The Guk is one of the weakest beings in space. It is cowardly and usually avoids fights at all costs. The reason it attacked you was out of pure defense. In fact, it is usually so pathetic that many planets keep them as pets. Doesn't Tamaran own some, Kori?"

Koriand'r nodded seriously.

Suddenly, Beast Boy perked up. "Were the beasts that were with the Tamaranian guards another breed of Guk's?" he asked hopefully, thinking of the horrifically terrifying animals they had seen when they went to Tamaran for Starfire's wedding.

Kori shook her head slowly. "No, Beast Boy. The Guk's of my planet were so skittish that they hid at the first sign of our arrival."

Beast Boy's ears drooped in disappointment. "Oh," he mumbled. A tense and awkward silence followed his words. The Titans and Titans East refused to meet Ella's smug eyes and Kori's ashamed ones. They were better than this, weren't they? Sure, they were only used to fighting Earth villains but wasn't Slade worse than any alien that could be thrown at them? Of course he was, otherwise Starfire could've kicked his butt every fight, which she hasn't. Then again, the Titans only fought Slade with Starfire, not Koriand'r and it had already been proven to them that Kori was a much more formidable opponent than Starfire. Although they were the same person. . . sort of. Did that mean that Starfire _could _defeat Slade if she wanted to? Why hadn't she?

With a jolt of shock, Cyborg discovered that they were all starting to mistrust Starfire. Even him, and she was his little sister. He was angry with the team, with himself, and with this violent new side of Starfire. If it hadn't been for that stupid transmission from the Citadel, they would all still be blissfully oblivious of Koriand'r. Speaking of the Citadel. . .

"What the. . ." Cyborg muttered, squinting into the slowly darkening sky. "Uh, guys?"

The Titans, Titans East and the two aliens spun to look at him. Ella and Kori followed his gaze upwards. Kori gasped and Ella let out a soft shriek. There, in the sky, was a flashing green light. It was rather like a star, only it kept flying to the left, right, up, and down. It twinged something in Cyborg and Robin's memory but they couldn't put their fingers on it. Ella and Kori on the other hand, apparently could.

When Ella moaned and Kori gasped again, Robin turned to them with narrowed eyes - mask. "What is that?" he asked sharply, pointing to the green light.

Kori attempted to regain her composure and muttered something to Ella that sounded faintly like: "Short term memory."

"That, Robin, is the indicators of the Citadel."

"But duuuude! We just escaped from them!" Beast Boy cried.

However, Kori wasn't listening. Her eyes had gone misty as she stared at the lights. "Ryand'r," Cyborg heard her whisper.

"Nuh uh, lil' lady," he said quickly, placing a large hand on her shoulder. "We gotta get outta here."

When Kori looked up at him, Cyborg nearly gave in. Her pleading eyes resembled her softer side - Starfire - so much that he felt his heart twist painfully for his sister.

"Sorry, Star," he said softly.

At the sound of the shortened version of her Earth name, Kori jumped. She took a deep breath and threw a longing look at the fast approaching green lights before turning to the humans and opening her mouth to give them orders. But it was too late.

The ground shook and they were all sent tumbling to the floor, dazing them. Bumble Bee was the first to recover; she sat up and scanned the skies. When she saw the hovering ship not fifteen feet from them, there was only one thing to say.

"Ah, damn."

**Okay, if it kinda seems like Starfire - err, Kori - doesn't like humans, I can totally explain that. In future chapters she might come across more anti-human - maybe. But think about it: I think it was in the episode 'Only Human' - I don't know, the one with Atlas! - the mechanic said to Starfire "Quiet, human!" and she replied: "I. Am. _Not._ Human." Sort of seems to me like Starfire doesn't want to be compared to humans. And no, I do not memorise the dialogue of the episodes, I just have a half - photographic memory. Kinda why I'm so good in school.**


	16. Home At Last

**Dun dun duuun! Final chapter! Okay, technically there's still the epilogue, but I don't think that really counts. Well, then there's Ella's backstory, but only for those that want to read it. I mean this is the final chapter of the actual story. I was going to separate this into two chapters, but I couldn't stop writing. Silly me. I was a little distracted while writing this: I am SO scared for exams, I feel like a doofus.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own.**

"_Go!_" E'llam'i hissed. "We have to get out of here!"

She made to grab Kori's arm and physically pull her away from the danger, but Koriand'r remained still. Despite Cyborg's earlier warning, she was still staring at the Citadel ship with something akin to longing. Her mouth was open, as if she had wanted to call out to the aliens now beginning to spill out of the ship.

"_Kori_," Ella spat, tugging on her arm. "Please! I don't want to be trapped with them again!"

Kori seemed to shake herself out of whatever trance she had been in. She threw Ella a pitying look and said in a strangled voice:

"My brother. My _little _brother, Ella! He is in there, alone! I cannot leave him, not again."

Ella's eyes widened. Apparently she was well acquainted with Wildfire. "Ryand'r? Ryan is in there?" Kori bobbed her head impatiently.

"Um, guys? Can't we do this later? You know, like maybe when THERE AREN'T SPACE ALIENS HEADING FOR US?!"

Raven smacked Beast Boy. "They _weren't _heading for us before you opened your stupid mouth!" she snarled, pointing to the now approaching Citadel.

"We're dead," Beast Boy muttered.

His words seemed to spark something in Kori. She spun around, fire blazing in her eyes. "We are not dead! We _will _escape again, and we shall _go home._" And with one last look at the Citadel ship, Kori began to lead the Titans away. But their number was one short. "Ella!" Kori cried, her eyes bugging as she saw her friend, sword hefted, dashing towards the ship. "Ella, come back! What are you doing?"

Not slowing in the slightest, Ella threw her reply over her shoulder as she entered the mad fray of Citadel.

"You and Ryand'r saved my life years ago, it is time for me to return the favor!"

And she disappeared.

"No!" Kori shouted, throwing herself against Robin's restraining arms. His hold wavered, but didn't break as the distraught girl tried to launch herself after E'llam'i. Kori was so upset that she couldn't muster enough confidence to break free of him.

"Starfire! We have to move!" Robin said desperately.

Kori froze. As tears ran down her cheeks, the mighty warrior seemed to wash away with them. Starfire slumped in Robin's arms. He allowed her a moment of grief before they really had to move.

"Starfire," he whispered. "C'mon. We have to go."

She took a deep breath before standing. Starfire scanned the area quickly, looking for a possible escape route. "There," she said hoarsely, pointing to a clump of blue 'moss'. It was too large for regular moss, but there really wasn't another word for it.

The Titans and Titans East hesitantly followed Starfire as she marched straight into the massive mound of 'moss'. They shivered at the feeling of the 'moss' brushing against them as they broke through. As it turned out, the mound had been hollow.

"I guess this is how Ella hid her ship," Aqualad said, sounding impressed.

In the middle of the circular space they were all standing in, stood a delicate looking space craft. Starfire hesitated to call it a ship, because it held no likeness whatsoever to the Citadel's vessels. It was powder blue in colour, and maybe four times as tall as Mas or Menos. The surface was sleek and shiny, reflecting their images back to them flawlessly. The only disruption on the metal was a tiny square half way down and three-quarters of the way across. Starfire hurried over to the square and studied it closely before flicking it lightly. Nothing happened for a second, and Robin was about to half-heartedly suggest they take on the Citadel, when they heard a low hum and the space craft lit up.

It glowed a faint blue and hovered a few centimeters off the ground. The Titans and Titans East gaped at it openly while Starfire leant back, admiring it.

"Come," she said finally, ushering them to the other side of the craft. There, she flicked another square and a doorway silently revealed itself.

"Man, you gotta help me make some improvements to the T-Ship," Cyborg said reverently.

Starfire smirked and bowed them entrance.

The interior of the craft was spectacular. The wall were smooth and blended flawlessly with the floor and control panels. They reflected light in such a way that all the colours of the rainbow were displayed, momentarily blinding the Titans.

Starfire pushed past them, walking straight to the main control system. Her fingers flew across the keypad, little more than blurs. A screen appeared on one of the walls, and lines of strange symbols flashed down it, to fast for the humans to register. Starfire studied the screen closely, the weird signs reflecting in her eyes. Cyborg moved closer, trying to scan the alien dialogue, but before he reached the screen it disappeared with a press of the button from Starfire.

He turned to her, maybe to protest, but she had her back to him. After a few more taps of the keypad, the craft shuddered and slowly rose upwards. A window, rather like that of the windshield of a car, cut its way into the wall, revealing the planet below them. They could see the Citadel, only a few metres away from them. Beast Boy immediately squeaked and ducked down, before Starfire thought to assure him that the window was one way only.

"Alright," Starfire whispered, before lightly pushing forward a lever. The craft shook and rose a little higher. It slowly began to move forward, Starfire was mindful to keep out of the sight of the searching Citadel. Eventually, they started to travel faster. As they flew over the Citadel ship, Starfire sighed, closing her eyes tightly.

Only for them to fly open wide at the sound of a shuddering _BOOM!_ The craft shook, causing them all to crash into the walls.

"Really getting tired of this," Raven muttered darkly.

Starfire wasn't paying attention. She was staring out the 'windshield' with wide eyes, one of her hands covering her mouth.

"Star?" Robin said gently.

"It - It is them! Ryand'r and E'llam'i, they - they have escaped!"

She looked over to them, pure glee and happiness shining in her eyes. Robin, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy cautiously joined her and peered out.

"Wow," Raven and Beast Boy both said, before scowling at each other.

The Citadel was in literal flames. They were high enough to lick the bottom of the Titans' craft, and glowed an eerie turquoise colour. Through the fire and resultant smoke, two shadowy figures - merely silhouettes - could be seen. As the smoke slowly cleared, the figures revealed themselves to be none other than Wildfire and Ella. They were fighting about a dozen Citadelians, and appeared to be winning. Ella was smiling as she slashed at the aliens with her sword, and Wildfire was strangely relaxed as he blocked and dodged their attacks.

Starfire seemed reluctant to proceed in the craft. She was watching her brother and - well, the Titans assumed they thought of each other as sisters - with sadness mingled with delight. Before she could land the craft and join them, as she clearly wished to, Robin stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm. She looked up, only to find her face centimetres from his.

"Come on, Starfire. Time to go home," Robin whispered.

Her eyes widened with panic, and tears began to form. "But Robin," she breathed. "They are my family."

Robin moved his hand up so that it rested at her neck and smiled sadly.

"Aren't we your family to?"

Starfire opened her mouth, then closed it again quietly. Hesitantly, she nodded.

"How are we your family?" Robin challenged, effectively distracting her from her loved ones' battles.

"I. . . I. . ." Starfire stuttered. "I do not know what you mean."

"Wildfire is your brother, and Ella is like your sister, right?" Starfire tried to glance back out the window, but Robin pulled her chin back and continued. "So how are we your family?"

"Um," Starfire murmured, trying to block out the yells and _clangs! _from outside the craft. "Beast Boy is like a . . . a younger brother. . .?"

Robin nodded in encouragement, while Beast Boy's mouth flopped open in astonishment.

"And?" Robin urged.

"And. . . Bumble Bee is like a . . . a close cousin. . .? Though she can resemble what Beast Boy calls an 'annoyingly strict teacher'."

Bumble Bee's mouth twitched.

"How about Aqualad and Speedy?" Robin asked loudly as another explosion erupted.

"T-They are like my argumentative step-brothers."

Aqualad and Speedy grinned at each other, both surprised.

With each comparison to a family member, Starfire grew gradually more confident with her answers. Mas y Menos turned out to be sweet and funny nephews, causing both of them to grumble.

"And what about the team?" Robin asked quietly.

"Hey! What, am I not part of the team now? She already said I'm like an awesome younger brother!" Beast Boy cried indignantly.

"Yeah. . . she didn't call you awesome. Starfire doesn't lie like that," Raven drawled. Beast Boy glared at her.

Robin ignored them and focused on Starfire.

"Well. . . um, Raven is rather like a sister. But not like Koma - uh, Blackfire. She is nicer, if a little antisocial," Starfire said, sending a brief glance at Raven.

Raven smiled tightly, utterly shocked. Not that she didn't reciprocate the feelings, but it was. . . different with Starfire. She always displayed affection to everyone, so it would make sense for her to feel the same for everyone.

"Okay, and Cyborg?" Robin said, wincing as Wildfire's cry seeped through the walls.

Starfire tensed at the sound, but she forced herself to continue. "Cyborg knows I view him as a big brother: over-protective and has terrible timing," she whispered.

Cyborg grinned, holding his arm up for a high five. Starfire sighed and gently slapped her palm against his.

She looked back to Robin as he took a deep breath. "And me?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Starfire blushed and looked down. Cyborg raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Uh, Robin? I don't think Star considers you a part of her 'family'. Be sorta awkward, really."

Robin scowled at him.

"You were right Robin," Starfire quickly cut in, pulling away from him. "It is time to go home."

Robin looked sort of disappointed, but Starfire glanced around at their friends before leaning down to whisper:

"I think of you as a best friend. Though, I wish we could be. . . more."

Robin froze, before a stupid grin made its way onto his face. "Really?" he whispered.

"Mhmm," she hummed.

Robin moved, as if to kiss her, but she pulled back and glared at him softly.

"Later," she said quietly.

Starfire turned back to the keypad and hit a few buttons. The craft moved quicker, finally moving from its stationary hover. Starfire didn't take her eyes from Wildfire and Ella until they were out of sight. Once they had left the planet's atmosphere, Starfire let the tears fall, but maintained the craft's course.

Robin kept a hand on her arm the whole way back to Earth: throughout all fifty-two hours, even while he slept. Of course, Starfire needed sleep to, so she alternated with Cyborg, giving him a two hour lecture on how to fly the craft.

* * *

When they finally reached Earth, everyone but Robin and Starfire stumbled out of the ship, Beast Boy even falling to the ground and kissing it. Robin and Starfire remained inside, Starfire scanning the walls carefully.

"They'll be okay, Star," Robin said quietly.

She turned to him quickly, apparently startled that he was still there.

"Wildfire and Ella," Robin said. "They're good fighters. They'll escape."

"Yes. Yes, they shall be alright," Starfire murmured, wide eyed.

"C'mon, Star. Let's get inside." Robin led her out of the craft and into the Tower. The others were already sitting in OPS.

Starfire sat on the end of the sofa, sitting straight.

There was a moment of silence.

"Please," she mumbled. "Please, not this again. Not this. . . awkwardness. It was like this after I first told you of my past, please do not repeat it."

Cyborg sighed and decided to help his sister out.

"What do you want to do with Ella's space craft?" he asked, a strange glint coming to his eye.

Starfire looked up and smiled. "I am sure she would not mind if you take it to the Hangar to study it. For improvement ideas for the T-Ship."

Cyborg grinned happily.

Another moment of tense silence.

"I am sorry," Starfire said suddenly. "For bringing the Citadel to you. You should not have to deal with them, it was not fair of me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Bumble Bee said. "It's over. The Citadel won't come for you again."

Starfire smiled darkly. "Oh, Bumble Bee. I am afraid that they will always come for me."

She stood and left the room.

* * *

"Hey Star?" Robin called through her door.

"Yes?" came her muffled reply.

"Can I talk to you?"

There was the sound of light footsteps before the door slid open. "Yes, Robin? What is it you require?"

Starfire had changed out of her ripped uniform. Instead she was wearing a light pink cotton tank top and cute purple shorts. Her hair was damp and a towel rested across her shoulders, signifying that she had just showered.

"Uh, the uh, the Titans East have decided to stay the night. You know, to rest up before returning to Steel City."

Starfire nodded absently, drying the tips of her hair with the towel. "Anything else?" she said.

Robin bit his lip. "Well. . . you sort of owe me a kiss."

Starfire's mouth pulled up at one side and she let the towel drop to the floor as she pulled him into her room.

**A Few Hours Later**

"Dude, it's good to be home!" Beast Boy sighed as he and Cyborg walked down the hall.

"Hell yeah it is, BB," Cyborg agreed. "Hey, wait," he said and backtracked. "What's this?"

He picked up a fluffy purple towel from the ground and inspected it.

"Looks like one of Star's towels," Beast Boy observed in confusion.

"Better return it," Cyborg said, turning to Starfire's door. "Yo, Kori! You dropped your towel outside -" As he opened her door, his eyes bugged. "Robin! Get away from my lil' sister!" he roared angrily and charged inside.

Beast Boy heard Starfire's shriek. "Victor! I do not mean to be rude, but GET OUT!"

"Not until Robin steps away with his hands up!"

Beast Boy wrinkled his nose at the image he formed.

"RAVEN!" Starfire screamed.

The requested girl instantly appeared beside Beast Boy and immediately glared at him.

"Hey, this time I didn't do anything!" he protested, holding up his hands in surrender.

Raven still glared at him distrustfully before following Cyborg into Starfire's room. Beast Boy carefully followed her and instantly burst out laughing.

Starfire and Robin were sitting on Starfire's bed, Starfire glaring at Cyborg while Robin looked kind of petrified.

A container of zorka berries sat between them and a few had fallen into Starfire lap, and it appeared that Robin had tried to retrieve them when Cyborg had burst in.

Raven immediately knew what was going on and dragged a shell-shocked Cyborg and a gasping Beast Boy out of the room. "Carry on," she said before the door closed, shutting the three of them out.

Robin remained frozen until Starfire giggled. "That was most amusing, yes?" she said.

"Uh. . ."

"Shall we continue the lip contact?"

"Uh. . . "

"I shall take that as a 'yes'."

**AND DONE! After months of updates I am DONE! Not really though. I still have to work on E'llam'i's story, but this is the end of Cannot Escape The Past. I hope you found it to your liking! There is still the epilogue, of course. And if any of you are interested in E'llam'i, then even though I'll be marking this story as 'complete' you can still await updates, it shouldn't take TOO long. . . **


	17. Epilogue

**And the epilogue! It's actually kinda sad that this is over! But I still have Ella's story!**

**Disclaimer: This is the seventeenth chapter and you haven't clued in that I don't own Teen Titans yet? Jeesh.**

I ran. I ran from a life of sorrow and pain, and into a life of friends and laughter. My old life would never be forgotten, but my new life replaced it in my heart and memory.

I sometimes worry if I'll accidentally slip up and reveal my warrior side to the Titans again. They would accept me - of that I have no doubt - but they would not trust me. I also worry if they will ever forgive and trust me again after our travel into space and past. I have kept secrets from them, and my excuse of the Titans never asking me to reveal them were feeble. I am ashamed of my behaviour in space and the things I put my friends through. They had all been hurt because of me, even though I had not planned on bringing them pain. They say they forgive me, give me strained smiles, but I can see the churning mistrust and betrayal behind their eyes. They try to mask it from me, but it is a pointless endeavor. I can see through masks as well as I can hide behind them - like I have been for five years. But no longer. I can see now that pretending to be someone I am not is not an option any more.

But Starfire is not completely unlike my true self. Indeed, sometimes I think she is more me than Koriand'r, at least as a Titan. Earth needs gentle heroes, not vicious warriors.

I have tried to explain this to Cyborg, and at times, Raven. But they never let me finish; they say my circling talk confuses them. I do not dare speak of it to Robin. We have made amends for his behaviour towards me and my past, but I still fear that he shall revert back to that cruel side of him.

I find myself hypocritical in this thinking, after all did I not, too, have a cruel side that went by the name Koriand'r? Were my friends scared of this side of me like I was wary of Robin's serious side? The thought saddens me, but I know I deserve this grief and guilt.

Because of me, my brother and almost sister were taken away. They are free now, I am sure, but I doubt they will wish to see me - the plague upon their happiness - any time soon, if ever.

My name is Koriand'r. My home is on Earth, in Jump City. My job is to protect my home. My friends and I are the Teen Titans. I am known by those on Earth as Starfire of Tamaran, and this has been my tale of past woes and current adventures - the good and mostly bad.

But my tale is nothing compared to that of E'llam'i's, who was more of a sister to me than my own flesh and blood one. .

**Goodbye my wonderful readers!**

**(Unless you plan on reading about Ella.)**

**I'll miss you!**

**(And your amazing reviews!)**


	18. E'llam'i's Pain

**Wow. Is it just me, or did it take me forever to post this? Hey, how many people are ACTUALLY interested in Ella? **

**Disclaimer: I own Ella. And B'urc. And Siz. And the Magnificents. And Aliek. Nothing else. I think.**

"You must work harder than that, E'llam'i!" B'urc taunted me.

Unfortunately, he had been the one assigned to train me. It made me wonder if the Magnificent Ones wanted me to suffer. Sadly, that was quite possible. Mine was not a very loving family.

I was distracted by my musings for a second too long. B'urc made a vicious slash aimed for my torso. I managed to twist in time to avoid serious harm, but the blade bit into my skin anyway. I darted away from my brother, dropping my own sword and clutching the bleeding cut.

B'urc laughed, lazily spinning his weapon in his hand. "What kind of fighter are you? Seven years of basic training, and you can't even defend yourself!"

I glared at him, pouring every bit of loathing I felt for him into it. To my satisfaction, he cringed. Everybody always said my eyes were unnerving. Well, apart from Aliek, but everyone knew he was strange.

B'urc picked up my discarded weapon, tossing it into the air and catching it again with ease. How I envied his connection with swords. He was the favored one in my family. The Magnificents always gave him everything, from the best weapons to the best trainers. He was fourteen years of age, and he had already worked with three of the most honoured warriors of our planet.

It had made him arrogant and self-centered, but he had every right to be. Not many could say that they beat the Great J'ok in a fight. I suppose it made sense for our parents to appoint him as my Trainer, as the princess of my planet I was obligated to know how to defend my people. But could it not have been Siz instead? She was much nicer than my bully of a brother.

"If you're too tired to continue, I'll just put these away and report your progess to the Magnificents," B'urc drawled, sending a smirk at me. I narrowed my eyes. How he loved to threaten me. I straightened and marched back to him, holding out my hand expectantly. With one more impressive spin, he gave it to me. He had known I would not have given up. If the Magnificents were told that one small cut had forced me to my knees, they would surely cast me away. They could not have a weak daughter.

"Let's try it one more time," B'urc sighed, sounding bored. I readied my sword in a defensive position. He lunged at me. I barely saw the hits swinging at me: they were little more than blurs. I managed to clumsily bat them away, blocking possible injuries. I even managed to get a wound on B'urc's arm. He pulled away and scoffed at my lame attempt.

"Enough," he said, waving a hand at me dismissively. "I'm bored of this. I'm going to talk with Siz. You clean up here and report to the Magnificents."

Before I could protest that reporting was _his _job, he stalked off and dropped the swords in a pile on the floor on his way out. I growled in frustration and hurried to pick them up.

As soon as they were safely stored back in Weapon Room, I miserably made my way to the Throne Room. I never liked to visit the Magnificents, they were never exactly understanding.

When I entered, I stopped in the doorway and lowered to one knee in the proper greeting. "Yes, E'llam'i?" came the calm voice of my father.

"Father," I said stiffly, rising to my feet. "I am here to report my training progress."

My mother's eyes narrowed in my direction. "Is that not B'urc's place?"

"I fear he his. . . busy," I said, bowing my head so as to avoid eye contact. Even they, my parents, did not like my eyes. I did not personally see the problem with them. They were different from others of my planet, yes, but they were not threatening in any way. They were merely varying shades of purple and blue, the pupils a mix of both colours. Aliek said they were beautiful, but you couldn't put much stock into what he says.

"Very well," my father sighed. "What is your report?"

My eyes darted up and locked with his. It lasted for only a second, but it was long enough for him to wince and look away from my oddly coloured eyes. I quickly returned to staring at the floor. No need to make them mad.

"My sword skills are improving, slowly but surely. I was not able to block the first attack," I indicated the thin line of dried blood on my torso.

My mother wrinkled her nose. "If you had been with anyone but your brother you would have been dead." Her voice was sniffy and final. Before I could tell her that I had been able to scratch B'urc's arm, she dismissed me. "Return to your chambers. Study swordplay or something useful."

I gaped for half a second before regaining my sense and hurrying away. Once I made it to my chambers, I slammed the heavy door and collapsed onto the floor. I poked at the shallow wound on my torso, wincing at the slight pain. I sighed at my weakness. No wonder the Magnificents were short with me, I was a disappointment.

I pulled myself to my feet and stumbled to the chest of drawers in the corner. I fumbled through the top drawer, searching for the bandages. I could not find them. I growled in frustration. I knew B'urc had taken them, probably to annoy me. It was working. I slammed the drawer shut in frustration.

It didn't matter. It was merely a scratch. Besides, I had no doubt that if I _had _covered it with a bandage, the Magnificents would disapprove. Instead, I walked over to the chest at the edge of my bed. Inside, there were several large tombs that I was expected to study everyday. I tried to, I really did, but they were extremely dull. Of course, the Magnificent Ones believed they needed to test me on the information, so I had to read them every now and then. And yet, they never tested B'urc. It was so unfair sometimes. I was never allowed to express my opinions on such matters, though, so for now I was stuck with living in my brother's shadow. I longed for the day when I could break away and prove to my parents and my people that I was worthy of being their princess. Unfortunately, that would not happen for a long time, if ever.

I shouldn't have such depressing thoughts, it was not right of a princess. I shook myself out of these thoughts and yanked out a random tomb. As I ripped it open savagely, I felt a dull worry for the trouble I would be in when the Magnificents saw the torn pages of the book. An amazing sense of irony overcame me as I saw the title of the tomb. Of course, it just had to be tips on how to improve swordplay performance.

"Ugh," I murmured in disgust. I let the heavy book fall to the ground and flopped back onto my bed. After a while, I rolled over and stared out my window in confusion. There was a green light dancing in the distance. As I slipped off the bed and crept closer to the glass, I saw that the flashing light seemed to have a pattern. Blink, fly left, blink, fly right, blink, fly left, blink, fly right.

"What is that?" I whispered to myself. I hurried back over to the chest of tombs, my fingers swiping numerous layers of dust off the spines as I searched for one particular title. "Ah ha!" I cried in success as I pulled out the relatively small book.

I flipped through the pages, looking for the section I had read many moons ago, out of sheer boredom. I came to a stop at a yellowed page with a faded diagram. I squinted at the picture, struggling to identify it with the light outside. It could possibly pass as the same light. My eyes quickly switched to the cramped writing that made up the descriptive passage.

"That can't be right. . ." I whimpered. "No. . . not now!"

I zipped back over to the window, book in hand, hoping I was wrong. I wasn't. The light definitely belonged to a Citadel battle ship. The book fell to the floor heavily, barely avoiding squishing my toes, but I paid it no mind as I sprinted to the door. I tugged on the handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"Huh?" I said in panic, wrenching on the door with all my might. I froze when I heard a distant laugh on the other side. A familiar laugh. "B'urc!" I cried.

"B'urc, please! You must open the door! It's an emergency!"

I thought I heard footsteps come to a rest a few feet away from the door.

"Emergency?" B'urc asked, sounding disbelieving. "What kind of _emergency_?" He definitely didn't believe me. But I had to do something.

"There is a light outside! I can see it through my window! It is green and - and I think it's a Citadel ship!"

"A Citadel ship?" B'urc sounded unsure. But then he laughed, albeit shakily. "Didn't anybody ever tell you not to cry wolf?" And his footsteps left.

"No! No, B'urc come back! Please, please come back! You have to believe me! Please!" I was crying now, out of fear and panic. What would I do if B'urc didn't let me out? I could not just sit here waiting for the Citadel to kill me! "B'urc," I sobbed, sliding to the floor. I curled up into a ball, hating my weakness, hating my need to bawl like a child. But, wasn't I a child? I was only seven years of age! Of course, there are five year olds on my planet who have been more successful in fights than I have. I truly was a disappointment.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. I jumped back, terrified. Had the Citadel arrived already? Were they here to kill me? If so, I was going to fight. I prepared myself for a losing battle, knowing it would be my last. Before I could launch myself at my opponent, B'urc hesitantly entered my room.

"B'urc?" I said in surprise and relief. He looked around nervously.

"I still don't believe you," he warned. "But I am your brother. Even if you are an awful fighter." I was too happy to be offended. I flung myself at him, sobbing into his shoulder. "Hey!" he cried in disgust. "I just said I'm your brother, not that I like you or anything!"

"I don't care," I said. "I don't even care if you believe me about the Citadel or not. Just - Just look out the window, please B'urc. Tell me I'm wrong," I begged, dragging him over to the window. He squinted through the glass.

"You're wrong," he told me. I let out a nervous laugh. "That's just a star." B'urc snorted at my idiocy.

"What? A star?" That didn't seem right. I peeked back out the window for confirmation. "No. No, B'urc! It - It's gone! It's not there anymore! B'urc," I turned to him, shaking again. "Where did it go?"

B'urc stared at me with a worried expression. I guess the big brother instinct was finally coming through. About time. "It's okay," he reassured me. "It was probably a passing ship. Nothing to do with the Citadel." There was a long moment of silence.

But then I was thrown into him when the floor shook violently. There was a loud _bang!_ from below our feet. I screamed in fear and clung to my brother tightly. He tightened his hold on my shaking frame, looking around for threats.

"You okay?" he asked, not looking away from the door as he pushed me behind him and drew a sword from the holder at his waist. I nodded, too scared to speak. The floor shook again, and this time I was able to bite back the scream, though a frightened whimper managed to escape. "Guess I should of let you out sooner," B'urc said, sounding amazingly relaxed. "Sorry."

I laughed breathlessly. "I forgive you," I whispered. B'urc nodded before pulling me towards the door. On the way, he grabbed a sword from the collection on the wall and passed it to me. I held it shakily in my grasp. He led me down the large staircase, pausing every few steps to listen for enemies. When we reached the main foyer, my knees gave out and I let loose a strangled sob. B'urc caught me and heaved me to my feet.

"Siz. . ." I moaned. He jerked me sharply, making me pick up the pace. I averted my teary gaze from the gruesome scene of Siz sprawled on the ground with a sword clutched in her hand, her raven black eyes open and glassy with her head severed from her body. B'urc barely spared his fiancée a glance, needing a clear head for the inevitable fight ahead.

The next room was worse. There was death and destruction every where. I forced myself to look away from the bodies strewn across the floor, but I couldn't help several tears springing to my eyes as I saw the nearly unrecognizable form of Aliek. Poor Aliek. He had been so sweet, if a little strange. He always had a unique perspective on things.

B'urc continued to drag me along until we reached the Throne Room. Only there did he hesitate. He sucked in a large breath and pushed open the door. It was quiet, and that sent a shiver of fear down my spine. B'urc faltered as he entered, nearly buckling. I helped him keep his balance while he attempted to block the scene from me. But I managed to peek over his shoulder and gasped. My mother was crouched on the floor, over the still form of my father, who had a large stab wound to his chest. They were not the only beings in the room.

My mother seemed to be speaking to one of the hideous Citadel stationed in the room. Her voice was thick and garbled through her tears. I could hardly make out what she was saying through a loud rattling sound that I realised with dull humility was my own racked breathing. I struggled to get it under control, and by the time my attention was brought back to the room, B'urc had tersely joined their conversation.

It was then that I processed enough to know that the three of them were speaking in a language I did not know. B'urc truly was better than me in so many ways.

It was hard to tell, but I thought it sounded like B'urc was protesting something Mother was suggesting. The Citadelian pitched in a comment here or there, but the argument mainly remained between my only living family members. It seemed like Mother won after a while, because she turned to the Citadelian and proposed her idea again. The Citadelian stiffly nodded, which I took to be in agreement.

B'urc twitched beside me. "I'm sorry, Ella."

Sorry? Why was he sorry? What had just happened?

"B'urc?" my voice trembled in confusion and fear. "B'urc, what's happening?"

"We have to save our people, it is our first and foremost priority," Mother cut into our whispered conversation. I jumped, startled and turned to face her. I shuddered at the closed off expression she wore.

Suddenly a terrible idea struck me. "Mother, you can't mean. . ."

"You must go with the Citadel, E'llam'i."

I felt my eyes widen. "But. . .But Mother. . ."

"It is not up for discussion!" she snapped sharply.

I flinched and sank into B'urc. He clamped a hand onto my shoulder and glared at Mother.

"She is not going," he said. "You know as well as I do, Mother, that Ella would not last long on their ship." He jerked a thumb at the Citadelians.

"We have no choice, B'urc." Mother's voice was final.

"Yes we do," he argued. "I could go. I am stronger than Ella, and -"

"No. If you leave, then what is left of the planet will only have _her _to depend on. We shall be doomed."

I was hurt by her accusations. I could get better. I would get better at fighting if I was ever given the chance. I took a deep breath and swallowed my tears.

"Mother is right, B'urc," I said shakily. I stepped forward and pulled away from his restraining hand. I nodded to Mother, avoiding her eyes, before slowly walking to the aliens.

"No, Ella," B'urc said, reaching half heartedly for my arm. I ignored him and kept walking. As soon as I was in arms reach of one of the Citadelians, his scaled arm shot out and dragged me to him. No more words were shared as they took me out of the Throne Room, but I could hear light footsteps following us. I counted the amount of steps I had left on my home planet. 121. . .120. . .119. . .I could see the ship slowly looming ahead, and my steps faltered. The Citadel dragging me tugged on arm painfully. 114. . .113. . .112. . .

"B'urc," I said softly, not turning to the person shadowing out footsteps. "Please, do not follow. Go back to Mother. Help rebuild the planet." 73. . . 72. . .71. . .

The footsteps behind us slowed, but didn't stop. I walked in silence, commiting the landscape to memory. It would be my refuge when I was stuck in the Citadel cells. 51. . .50. . .49. . . The land was eerily silent, with everyone either dead in the palace or in hiding. I wondered how they would react to the knowledge of my sacrifice. I am sure they would be relieved that it was me and not my brother. 12. . .11. . .10. . .

As I reached the entrance to the Citadel ship, B'urc finally spoke up. "Goodbye E'llam'i."

I didn't turn around, and I didn't answer.

**Yup. Oh, and I'm splitting this into two (maybe three?) chapters, otherwise it'd be REALLY long. I think in the next one, Ella will meet Kori. I think. And yes, I know I've spent the whole story spelling Kori wrong, but I'm not gonna correct it.**

**Review, tell me what you think about Ella so far!**


	19. It's Over

**Ugh! I know, I know. I'm sorry. I could give you a bunch of excuses but, the truth? I just SO did not want to write this anymore. I lost interest. Sorry. Luckily, this is the LAST chapter. So you don't have to agonize over updates anymore. And I can stop feeling guilty about this story! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I actually most of what's in this chapter. Apart from the Citadel. And the Vega Star System. And Tamaran. And Koriand'r. But I own E'llam'i. I can deal with that.**

The ship was long and eerily silent. Several Citadelians lined the walls, each eyeing me beadily. I shivered under their scrutinizing stares. I kept my eyes downcast and my steps quick as I followed the two aliens that had taken me aboard. They led me to a narrow hallway, which had row upon row of heavy looking doors on both sides. As we walked, I noticed an emergency escape hatch. I stored its location within my brain, in case the occasion ever arose where I had an opportunity to escape. I knew the chances for escape - for survival, even - were slim, especially for someone as weak as I, but seven years of my brother's tormenting had strengthened my determination.

The room I was shoved into was circular and cramped. There was a rather large window covering most of the farthest wall. Through it I had a clear view of my planet, and I immediately pulled away from my guards and rushed to the glass. I pressed my hand up to it, watching as my breath fogged the view. As the fog cleared I noticed something that made my stomach drop.

"What. . . What is that?" I whispered, pointing a shaking finger at a large weapon outside the ship, directed at my home planet.

I did not get an answer, nor did I expect one. I already knew what it was. "But they gave you a peace treaty!" I spun on my guards. "They gave you me! You - You can't!"

One of them glared at me coldly. "Please," it hissed. "Your planet poses a huge threat to ours with its alliances with other planets in the Vega Star System. Your home is one of the main trading ports for weapons that can defeat us. We need more of a treaty than just a puny weakling girl."

I paid no mind to his insult. "You can't just destroy my planet!" This could not be happening. Not to me. Not to my planet. I was only a child!

The other guard shrugged. "Of course we can." And the window was blocked with brilliant blue light.

Once I had blinked the spots from my vision, I crawled to the window, needing to see my planet, but. . . . But there was nothing there.

"No," I said hoarsely. "No, please no. . . " B'urc had only just started to show me courtesy! He was beginning to be nice. . . he was teaching me. . . . My planet was gone, along with my family. I sobbed and bowed my head.

"Hm," the first guard said. "Next stop is the Vega Star System, what was it? Tamaran?"

I froze. I had heard of that planet before. Tamaran was a major supplier for weapons to be used against the Citadel, but it was several light years away so my planet never got many chances to trade with them. I guess they never would now.

If we were going to Tamaran, then I would be stuck in this cell for ages. But a plan was already forming in my mind. Maybe. . . maybe I could escape somehow. . . and get to Tamaran. . . then I could be safe.

Or. . . or I could escape, learn to fight. . . . and then go to Tamaran and warn them of the Citadel's approach. Then I could fight with them. I could help them like I should have helped my planet.

So as the guards left my cell and locked it, leaving only the memory of my destroyed home, I planned.

* * *

I dashed down the hallway searching, searching, searching. . . .finding the escape hatch I had noticed when I had been brought aboard! I swung around and opened the hatch door, diving inside and slamming the door shut again. I peeked through the window, watching the guards run past as they searched for me. I slid to the floor, panting. I had been with the Citadel for two weeks now, memorizing their schedule and guard shifts.

I had chosen the perfect night for an escape, of that I was sure. Now I just had to wait a few hours until I could detach the escape pod from the ship. Might as well try and get some sleep.

* * *

"Where is it. . . Where is it. . . " I muttered to myself as I steered the craft through space. I had escaped from the Citadel just over two years ago, and for the past two years I had been traveling through the galaxies, learning the best fighting techniques and gaining the most advanced technology. Though B'urc was not here, I could just imagine how jealous he would have been. I am sure I would be able to beat him in a sword fight now. But of course, that shall never ever happen. Not anymore. B'urc and my planet were the reason I did not just give up and travel to safety. I failed my planet because I was unable to fight, that was not going to happen again.

I was sticking to the plan I had made those two years ago and was traveling to Tamaran to warn them of the Citadel, who - if my calculations were correct - would arrive next year. I needed to hurry up if I wanted time to gain their trust.

Finally, I spot the strange pinkish-purpleish planet. I sped up, impatient to land on this planet. When I did, I was immediately surrounded.

I climbed out of the craft slowly, my hands up to indicate I was of no threat. The guards surrounded relaxed at the knowledge that I had no weapons against them, but did not lower their own.

"I came to warn the Rulers of a great threat," I announced loudly and clearly. "I assure you, I am not here to harm anyone." I had learned Tamaranian last year, just for this purpose.

"Warn them of what?"

The voice was soft and small, obviously not belonging to any of the intimidating guards. My gaze traveled around the circle of large Tamaranians before I managed to catch who had spoken. It was a young girl, a couple of years younger than me. Probably around the same age as I was when my planet was destroyed, maybe a year younger.

The girl strode past the guards, closer to me. The guards shifted uneasily; this small girl clearly held an important position. I tensed at her approach, even though I doubted such a small girl would be able to inflict much damage.

It was as she finally stopped and appraised me that I got my first good look at her. She was tall for her age, coming to about my neck. She had long wavy, dark red hair that fell just above her waist. She was wearing a simple purple garb, but I didn't pay it much attention. I was too distracted by her eyes, like she was mine. Her eyes were green - even the sclera and pupil. They were big, too.

"What do you want to warn my mother and father about?" she asked quietly, and I was not quite sure what to make of her.

Mother and father? So she was a princess. Like I was. And the Citadel are threatening her planet. Like mine had been. Considering her stance, she seemed to want to prove herself in front of these guards. Like I had.

"I am E'llam'i," I told her, watching the girl carefully.

She hesitated for a second. "Koriand'r," she replied.

I think I might have seen a kindred spirit in this girl.

**This was gonna originally continue throughout Kori and Ella's friendship, but I just. . . can't. I just can't. I'm not really into Teen Titans anymore. . . I feel like part of my childhood is over. :( It was a struggle just to write this. I'm sorry.**

**No more Kori and Ella. It's up to your imaginations now. Sorry.**

**I would still appreciate reviews. . . ?**


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